Bloodline
by BeccaBean
Summary: "You didn't stop the apocalypse, you only postponed it". They were born to lead in an apocalypse that their fathers had risked everything to prevent. Why is Winchester synonymous with sacrifice? Sequel to Destiny Rising. A lot of OC's from the last story. Also, fair warning, all of these characters are based on friends of mine who wanted to be included (Discontinued)
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural... yet

Double Disclaimer: This is a sequel to my last story Destiny Rising, it's not a very good stand alone. Also this one deals a lot with other characters and a good deal of the focus is on them as the last story preluded to so if you're strictly into supernatural characters being the main focus in stories then you probably shouldn't read this. However, if you really liked my first story then you should totally check it out because it stays consistent. That being said I hope you enjoy the story if you decide to stick around :o)

Triple Disclaimer: Pretty much all of my OC's are based on my friends and this entire story is geared towards pleasing them so if this really isn't your cup of tea, there are no hard feelings :o) for those of you who like this anyway, thanks for bearing with me even during the weird and boring parts

* * *

Mattie took a long drag of her cigarette, aimed her mouth at the vent in the ceiling, and blew a puff of smoke at it before sinking back down on. She hung her legs over the edge of the platform and gazed out at the stage below her. Danny took the cigarette from her outreached hand and put it in his mouth. They sat in thoughtful silence for a moment before they heard someone bounding up the staircase quickly. Danny pulled the cigarette from his mouth and hid it behind his back until they saw who had just joined them. It was only Jeremy; Danny took the cigarette from behind his back, tapped the ashes from the tip and put it back into his mouth. Jeremy shook his head and walked over to his cousins.

"Hey Jude" Mattie smiled

"What the hell are you two doing up here?" He reached to Danny's mouth to grab the cigarette from his mouth but Danny turned his head away.

"You two are smoking again yeah?"

Danny turned his head upwards and blew out the smoke.

"Does anyone know we're up here?" He asked as he passed the cigarette back to his sister.

"No. Do you know that if someone catches you that you're dead"

"Oh Jude relax" Mattie smiled "Nobody's going to catch us"

"Our dad's are coming home today. They're going to smell it on you"

"Don't worry, we got all of that covered, we have clothes in our lockers" Mattie pulled at the collar of her shirt to show him that it wasn't the same as the one she had left home in.

"You really shouldn't be smoking" He shook his head "Danny you're supposed to be trying out for the football team, what is Dean going to say when you can't make it because you can't make it because you can't breathe?"

"I'll make the team" Danny put the cigarette in his mouth and smiled

"Oh really? How do you know?" Jeremy chuckled in disbelief

Danny exhaled deeply "Because, I'm so bloody handsome, how could you turn down my pretty face?" He smiled

"Oh is that it?" Jeremy nodded

"That and I have something that all of these little buggers don't have"

"What's that?"

"A sexy British accent" Danny smiled

"Well aren't you modest?" Mattie laughed reaching for his mouth

"Mattie, how many damn drags do you think we've got left on this thing? It's the butt already" He laughed as he watched her tapping the ash off of what was left of the cigarette

"You're right, it's a lost cause this poor little thing" Mattie said taking a long drag

"Yeah well that's not the only lost cause I see here" Jeremy laughed "Come on, can we get out of here now? Before the principle catches you two screwing up again?" He reached down for Danny's hand. Danny took it and Jeremy pulled him to his feet.

"What period is it?" Mattie said rising from her seat

"Are you sure that's just tobacco you're smoking" Jeremy laughed at her incredulously

"What?"

"School let out twenty minutes ago"

"Oh crap!" She said rushing past them "Come on, we have to change!"

"No use running, we've already missed the bus" He called after her

"Call Jody" She called back as she raced down the steps out of the auditorium

* * *

Jody was always the one to call whenever they missed the bus because she would always be available to pick them up from school regardless of the fact that most of the time they called her she was at work. In fact it was even better if she was at work because she was always too preoccupied with work to ask them any questions that they didn't want to answer like why they had missed the bus or notice the faint smell of cigarette smoke on their hair. If they had called Bobby, who spent most of his time at the house, to pick them up instead he wouldn't miss it. Bobby wasn't one to miss things.

Mattie stuck her head out of the window in the back of the sheriff car where she was sitting and let the wind whip through her long golden brown hair letting the wind pick up any leftover smoke that clung to her hair. Danny, who was sitting in the seat next to her had his window rolled down as well but he wasn't being quite as dramatic as she was by putting his head out of the window. He just sat there and let the wind do all of the work for him. It amazed her that even when he was just sitting there leaning slightly towards the window he looked so bloody cool. Maybe it was his confidence. Danny's problem wasn't that he was too attractive, it was that he knew he was so attractive, and so did everybody else. At sixteen years old he was almost an exact replica of their father down the last freckle, the only difference was Danny's hair, which was a deep brown instead of golden. Matilda herself had inherited her father's and mother's hair color which gave her a two toned mixture of browns and gold making her hair look as if it were permanently highlighted. Who was she kidding; she knew she was bloody gorgeous too. Jeremy sat in the front seat playing with his cellphone, most likely texting their little brother John. Well, his little brother. In their house there really wasn't a difference between brother, sister, or cousin, they had been raised completely together; the only differences were who they called mom and dad. Thinking of which, her father would be home soon and she couldn't be more excited. Her father, legendary hunter Dean Winchester, and his best friend, brother, and partner in crime the legendary Sam Winchester, had just completed another hunt. She didn't know all of the details but she can bet that they had tracked down another leviathan. They had been trying to clean up that gooey black mess for years trying to make sure that nobody else would take Dick Roman's place as their leader. Mattie was too young to remember being Dick Roman's captive but she heard loads of stories from her cousin Lucy who was a bit older when the conflict happened. Lucy and Kate were the only bit of biological family that Mattie didn't live with. Partly because their house was so jam-packed to begin with that they've already had to expand twice to have enough room for everybody, but mostly because Chessa, Lucy and Kate's mom, hated her mom and no matter what Dean and her Uncle Adam tried, they couldn't make their wives reconcile.

"Okay, see you at around dinner time" Jody smiled as she opened the back door for Mattie when they arrived at home.

"Is my mum home yet?" Jeremy asked giving Jody a hug goodbye

"Yeah she got back early today so she could be here for your dad"

Rissy always took off of work early when her dad and uncle got back from a hunting trip. Apparently Rissy used to be a hunter along with them but had decided to give it up and go back into psychiatry after John was born to bring in some extra money. Mattie was only a toddler back then so she was too young to remember Rissy during her hunting days, it was hard to imagine her sweet quirky aunt killing a spider much less an actual monster.

Mattie threw her book bag in the corner of the living room and flung herself onto the couch next to her younger cousin as he flicked aimlessly through channels.

"Wait, go back I like that show." She shouted as he scrolled quickly through programs

"No way I'm not watching that channel" John scoffed

"Why not? I bet you'll like it"

"Because that's BBC and I don't want to get a funny accent like the three of you have." He teased

Danny who had just returned from the kitchen with an apple, took a huge bite of the fruit and snatched the remote away from John before dropping himself in the middle of him and Mattie

"Don't be jealous Johnny" He said with his mouth full

"I'm not jealous. You guys are the only kids raised in South Dakota with British Accents. It's ridiculous"

"People teasing you at school or something John?" Jeremy asked rifling through his book bag

"No, why?" He asked a bit too defensively

"Because every new school year in the start of the semester you start wanking on about something" Danny rolled his eyes

"Remember what I told you Johnny, you tell that whole bleeding lot of them to sod off if they know what's good for them" Jeremy said pointedly

"Okay first of all, stop calling me Johnny, I'm fourteen not four and second nobody is picking on me, and third even if there were people picking on me I would never tell them that"

"Why not?" Mattie pouted

"Because 'sod' doesn't sound good unless you say it in our accents" Danny smirked

"You guys drive me nuts" John huffed

"We don't mean any harm John, just teasing" Jeremy smiled and joined them on the couch with his textbook

"What do you guys want for dinner?" Rissy asked poking her head out of the kitchen door

"Something meaty and smothered in grease" Mattie licked her lips

"It's a wonder you don't have a boyfriend already yeah?" Danny raised his eyebrows at his sister

"How about something a little more neutral and a little less disgusting?" Rissy wrinkled her nose

"Chicken? You can't go wrong with chicken" John shrugged

"I can work with that" Rissy agreed and disappeared back into the kitchen

The front door opened and Mattie's heart leapt into her throat and sunk right back down again when she saw Bobby walk inside, not her dad and uncle. He looked over at them and sighed heavily. Mattie knew that sigh all too well. They were in trouble.

"Dan will you shut that off for a second? I have to talk to you." He said gruffly as he hung his coat up on the rack

"What's wrong? Is there something wrong with dad?" Danny shot forward in his seat

"No but I doubt he's going to be too pleased when he hears what I've got to tell him"

"What's wrong Bobby?" Mattie frowned

"I got a phone call from your teacher today, said you two haven't been doing your homework"

"It's that damn English teacher isn't it? About that stupid assignment about our family history"

"You're not going to tell them the truth are you?" Bobby squinted suspiciously

"Of course not Bobby, we're not idiots" Mattie sighed loudly. That teacher was becoming a major pain in the bum.

"Well at any rate I doubt your mom and dad will be too pleased if they have to take another trip down there to speak to your teachers again"

"At least it wasn't the principal this time" Jeremy laughed

"See we're making progress" Danny smiled

"We'll do it tonight Bobby" Mattie reassured

"Yeah" Bobby grumbled, "Well I'll let you get back to your homework"

Mattie watched him escape into the kitchen at the same time her mom came inside. Boy was this house crowded.

Bela walked into the house shifting through a mound of bills.

"Hi" she said absently as she opened the water bill with dreadful anticipation, between Sam and Danny running up the water bill every month it was a wonder that they could still afford it.

"Hi" The four teens said simultaneously without turning away from the television set

"They home yet?" She asked as she looked down at their astronomical bill and heaved an annoyed sigh

"Not yet Mum" Danny answered for the rest of them

"We have to do something about this water bill Dan" She huffed

"Yup" He said dismissively turning his attention back to the television

She tossed the bills on the coffee table and looked at the quartet, have they finished their homework? Probably not, she answered herself and began debating whether or not she should tell them to turn off the television and get to it when her phone began to ring.

"Hello?"

"_I see you."_ A voice laughed sinisterly through the phone

"Is that so?" Bela challenged.

"_You tell me"_ The voice said darkly _"And while you're at it, can you explain to me why your entire wardrobe is black?"_

"What are you? The fashion police?" She shot back

"_I'll tell you what I am"_ The voice growled _"I'm right outside your door"_ and the line went dead. Bela flipped her phone closed and slid it into her back pocket before turning to the kids.

"Dad's home" She smiled


	2. Chapter 2

Sam and Dean slammed the front door open and were instantly greeted by hugs and kisses from their children and wives. It was always like this after a hunt whether they were gone for three weeks or three days. Thank you for not dying Sam and Dean, thank you for coming back in one piece because we would fall to pieces without you. "I would fall apart without you" Bela mused as Dean grabbed her face and gave her a hard smooch on the lips. They had fought before he left; it was about something stupid, something small. Cereal.

"Hey hon did you pick up anymore Fruity Bits last time you went shopping?" He had asked digging through the pantry

"Uh no, I forgot" She said absently as she read the morning paper

"I reminded you before you left" He sighed in frustration

"We have bran, that's healthier for you anyway" She dismissed taking a sip from her coffee "I swear Dean you eat like a child, even John outgrew that garbage"

"Yeah well you know me, I'm the boy who never grew up" He rolled his eyes, opened the freezer and pulled out a box of frozen waffles

"You can say that again"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You said it Dean, you tell me" She smiled sarcastically

"You know what? Forget it" He bit his lip in frustration

"Gladly. To be honest I'm sick to death of talking about it"

"Okay then drop it." He said impatiently

"Oh you aren't going to start pouting now are you?" She teased. Bela didn't know why but his presence was beginning to annoy her, the way he was sulking over that waffle box trying to make her feel guilty over a stupid box of cereal.

"You are pouting aren't you? Next time I'm at the store remind me to get you a violin also"

He paused from opening the box and shot her a hostile glance "How did you forget anyway? I reminded you before you left the house"

"What am I not allowed to forget things?" She scoffed

"Oh right, you just happened to forget the cereal I asked for and got bran. Bran Bela?" He cocked his head suspiciously at her

"Yes that's right Dean, I deliberately left it at the store just to spite you. Is that what you want to hear?" She raised an eyebrow at him

"I'd rather hear an apology but that's a good start"

"Oh please I'm not going to apologize for forgetting cereal. Next time how about you go shopping and get it yourself so we don't have this problem"

"Hell why not? One less thing on your plate. That way you can sit on your ass all day, read your paper and watch tv and I'll work, and do the shopping when I come back from a hunt"

"Oh please" She rolled her eyes

"Then when I get home from the store, you can cook." He continued with a sneer

"Dean" She snapped

"Only you can't cook can you? That's okay, you don't have to cook; you can just clean instead"

"Shut up" Bela snarled

"Oh I forgot. You're not the maid. Those were your words weren't they? So you can just sit around and look pretty all day?"

Bela shot up from her seat and advanced on him "You have some nerve"

"No you don't want to that because you hate sitting around all day with nothing to do, how could I forget?"

Bela felt her temper raising it was all she could do not to haul off and slap him in the face.

"So let's see Bela? What can you do so that you contribute something to this family? Oh I know, how about you go shopping." He growled loudly

"Fine Dean, you want your cereal? I'll get you your damn cereal." She said coolly before turning on her heel and walking out of the kitchen

"Thank you" He yelled after her

Bela bought ten boxes of Fruity Bits at the store and when she got back home she grabbed the gallon of milk from the refrigerator and emptied all of cereal and milk on their bed. Dean just watched with his arms crossed, stone faced from the doorway.

"There you go Dean, knock yourself out" She smiled as she tossed the empty containers on the floor

"Clean that up right now" He growled

She walked up to him purposefully until she was inches from his face. "I'm not the damn maid." She sneered before stalking out of the room.

That was a week ago, all water under the bridge right? She hoped so, sometimes when they fought like that it felt like they weren't even themselves, it was as if they were clones of their former selves trying desperately to destroy each other. She didn't know how or when they got that way, she just wished she could figure out a way to stop it before they completely fell apart. Things weren't getting any better though, not anytime soon, not with the future looming over their heads. _"You don't really think that you stopped the apocalypse do you?" _Dick's words swam around her head every day no matter how she tried to push it from her mind. No matter how hard she tried to convince herself that he was wrong. Her children were getting older everyday and all she could do was sit around and wait for the world to end, wait for her children to become soldiers to fight a war that was completely out of her hands, out of any of their hands.

* * *

"When are you going to take me out on a hunt Dad?" Mattie asked between bites of her chicken

"Uh I'm thinking between hell and no" Dean nodded and smiled

"That doesn't make any sense." Danny snickered

"Makes sense to me" Sam countered

"But you trained us so well, why bother if you weren't ever going to let us put it to good use"

"Mattie" Dean said in a warning tone. She frowned and impaled a pea with her fork "I was just joking"

Rissy laughed, "Of course you were sweetheart. Who wants dessert?"

"How's school?" Sam asked as Rissy scurried out of the room

"It's great" John beamed "I got an A on my physics exam"

"Wow. I'm impressed" Sam smiled widely

"Thanks Dad" John blushed

"Already? Wow." Dean nodded in approval "How about you guys?" He asked looking directly at the twins

"Uh, we're doing okay" Mattie smiled "Football try-outs are coming up again"

"Yup, I'm going for varsity this year, I'm not worried" Danny shrugged

"Of course not, you're a Winchester. You have winner DNA" Dean said proudly "What about you Jude? Going for sports this year?"

"Just swim team again, it's the only thing my work schedule will let me flex my hours around anyway" Jeremy shrugged. Jeremy the only one of the four teenagers with a job, he was a lifeguard at the public pool. He had taken to the water like a fish as a child when they would take family trips to the beach or pool.

"You have anything else to tell your dad Dan? Mattie?" Bobby raised an eyebrow

"Tell me what?" Dean asked wiping his mouth with a napkin

"I think I have a good shot at being voting cheer captain again this year" Mattie offered guiltily

"I got a call from their English teacher today, about a missing assignment" Bobby interjected

"Who wants pie?" Rissy asked bursting back into the room with the dessert

"You two haven't been doing your homework?" Dean squinted

"Did you know about this?" He asked turning to Bela

"No, this is the first I've heard of it" She frowned taking a swig of her beer

"She just wants to poke around in our business Daddy" Mattie sighed

"We're going to do it tonight" Danny added quickly

"Why didn't you do it before?"

"It's an assignment about our family history" John explained

"Why didn't you guys just make something up?" Dean shook his head in confusion

"She's so annoying" Mattie grumbled

"Annoying or not, she's the one with the grade book" Sam frowned

"We'll take care of it" Danny assured

"Okay but do you think can we take care of it next time without the phone call?" Dean sighed "The last thing I want is to be called in again for another parent teacher conference."

"Yes Daddy" Mattie smiled brightly and stood to help her Aunt serve the pie

* * *

"Dean" Bela breathed, as she lay cradled in his arm that night. He planted small kisses on her back and shoulders in response. The reunion nights were always the sweetest, after a few nights apart from each other; Dean liked to take his time with her. Other nights when they made love, if they made love at all, it was usually either quick and meaningless, or hard and angry. Not that Bela had any complaints about angry sex but she could remember a time when angry sex was an occasional thing, not the norm. It wasn't a secret to anyone, after years of marriage; Dean and Bela were in a rut. Countless arguments about pointless things riddled their everyday lives, at least overtime they had both learned how to control their tempers to a degree, for the sake of their children. Bela had found other ways to remind Dean to do his own dishes without throwing dirty plates and bowls at him, and Dean had learned that, even though it was all he could do not to get into a physical altercation with his wife, leaving for days at a time between hunts to clear his head wasn't healthy for his relationships with the kids. Somehow, regardless of all of their fighting and confrontation, they always ended up back here, in each other's arms reminding each other how much they meant to one another.


	3. Chapter 3

Mattie joined her cousins and brother outside after her parents had gone to bed to finish her homework in the tree house Rissy had Sam and her dad build so that she, Danny, Jeremy, and John could have some space to themselves. It wasn't a large structure, there was only one room but it fit all four of them inside neatly even now in their teenage years. It seemed funny now, that they should have a tree house to have some time alone from everyone else when all it really did was bring the four of them closer together. John had hypothesized that it was because the adults saw the rest of them as a single entity instead of individuals, it seemed to annoy him but he didn't complain much, as far as single entities went, this one wasn't so bad. When Mattie reached the top of the ladder and climbed inside to join the rest of her family she saw that they left her spot empty for her, right in between Danny and Jeremy and across from John. She dropped her bag next to a blanket covering a mound of books behind her seat. It was a chilly night but she removing the blanket from the books to shelter her from the breeze would never cross her mind. Although the blanket was a poor excuse for a cover, it gave the four of them a false sense of security that their books were well hidden. Underneath the covers were two neat piles of books labeled Supernatural by Carver Edlund. John had first discovered the books when rifling through a locked box of his mother's old things from before her marriage to Sam, when he skimmed through a few pages and realized that the books narrated his father and uncle's lives during their younger years he stole them and brought them to the tree house to share with the rest of the gang. It became an understanding that the knowledge of the books and all of the information they gathered within them were to remain a secret among the four of them, their parents would never approve of them reading this material and for good reason, there were things in there that Mattie read that she wished she could forever unread, her father's sexual exploits being at the top of that list. There were, however, very interesting aspects of the book that completely blown her away. One of the books titled Bad Day at Black Rock illustrated how her parents met, it wasn't exactly a love story but that didn't surprise her. She had seen her parents fight long enough to figure that they didn't have one of those "love at first sight" experiences but rather grew on each other slowly, like fungus. She had only wished that there were a book that described how they came to be after her mother was raised from hell; that would be a story worth reading.

Danny had been much less enthusiastic than the others about the books, especially when he reached the book Time Is On My Side when his mother died and they figured out about her troubled past. Danny, who was usually extremely calm, had thrown the books all around the tree house in a fit of rage. It was the first and last time Mattie had ever seen her brother so worked up about anything. He didn't talk to anyone for three days. Jeremy, John, and Mattie finished the rest of the books silently after that, a big change from before when they would all sit around and read them to each other, laughing at some parts with an occasional gag from the romantic parts crying at others, like when their grandfather John died or when close friends died like Ellen and Jo did in that explosion.

Jeremy rereads them sometimes when he's sad or when he thinks that nobody else is watching. It was an unspoken rule that the books would never leave the tree house but Mattie saw one in his book bag once when she was looking for loose leaf paper for one of her classes. It was the Phantom Traveler, which made sense because that is when they assumed Rissy had seen Sam for the first time. She had told them once that he saved her life on an airplane, and in the book Sam and her dad had exorcised a demon that was going to crash a plane. They assumed that this was the one Rissy was talking about, after all Sam and her dad didn't take planes often because of her dad's fear of flying. The only time he ever agrees to fly anywhere is to Costa Rica once a year to visit their friends in the unicorn colony. Castiel, a fallen angel, his wife Surena, the queen of the unicorn colony, and Angelina, princess of the unicorn colony and Mattie's dear friend.

Angelina was a bit younger than Jeremy but she was much more mature than the rest of her friends were. She was the first and (most likely) the last of her kind, a half unicorn half angel hybrid. She had been conceived in hopes to produce a unique breed of unicorn with the capability of flight, now at fifteen years old and still without wings, Surena all but abandoned hope that she would be able to fly. Still, wings or no wings Angelina possessed a variety of strange abilities. Her eyes, for one thing, which were naturally brown, only stayed that color when she was feeling completely neutral or content; whenever she began to feel emotions such as anger, fear, embarrassment, or sadness, her eyes would quickly turn a crystal blue. Unlike John and Jeremy, who were both hybrids of their own (part shifter from their mother's side and human from their father's), had the ability to change their eye color at will and it was completely under their control. But Angelina's strange eyes didn't only possess the ability to change color randomly; they also had a profound effect on the weather in that area causing it to rain whenever she cried. Because there were no others around like Angelina to compare her to, nobody knew what to expect from her or her range of abilities which seemed to grow on a regular basis since she hit puberty. That seemed to trouble the adults but to Mattie, Danny, Jeremy, and John, Angelina's powers were magnificent.

"Matt will you quit daydreaming and help me with this stupid assignment?" Danny asked through a mouthful of pen cap.

"Which class is it for?" She asked leaning towards him

"Who else? Mrs. Ingram"

"Oh I hate that witch" Jeremy shuttered

"Don't we all" Danny agreed distractedly as he pressed his pen to the paper in front of him

"What's the assignment?" John asked curiously

"We have to write about our family history" Mattie explained

"That's a homework assignment? How stupid, why does she care what your family history is?"

"It's supposed to be a fun project I think, something personal to share with the class and brag about" Mattie shrugged

"I'll tell you what it's supposed to be" Danny rolled his eyes and removed the cap from his mouth "It's supposed to be a closer look at Mattie and me, guaranteed she's trying to figure out if we're related to the Winchesters from the killing spree from years ago"

"Well can you blame her? We kind of are" John frowned

"Yeah well it's none of her bloody business" Danny huffed biting down on the cap again

"Well we could always make something up Danny, we don't have to be honest" Mattie smiled, slightly amused by her brother's annoyance

"You couldn't be honest if you wanted to" Jeremy pointed out

Danny looked up as though he were suddenly hit with inspiration, looked back down at the paper, and began writing furiously.

"What are you going to say?" Mattie tilted her head for a better look at what her brother was writing

"See that face Mattie? It's going to be something bloody brilliant" Jeremy smiled

* * *

"It was downright disturbing" Mrs. Ingram said sternly from across the desk. Bela and Dean exchanged an incensed look and turned back to the teacher.

"And as a proud owner of a parakeet, I do not appreciate the references that they alluded to when they described what a quote perfect flour and parakeet tortilla was"

Dean tried unsuccessfully to stifle a laugh and make a straight face but the teacher was already looking at him reproachfully and tapping her fingers on her desk.

"Mr. Winchester this is not a laughing matter, this was a nonfiction assignment. I allowed your children to work together on this assignment because they are siblings but unless you used to be the president of England your wife has had three arms removed, your children will receive a zero"

Dean rubbed the corners of his eyes with his fingers and shook his head

"What can they do to improve their grade at this point?" Bela asked while Dean recovered himself

"Matilda and Daniel are bright children" Ingram began "All I want is a little effort on their part and a little more help from home"

"Excuse me?"

"Well, Matilda used to sit next to her brother during class before I had to separate them because they would get so easily distracted. Then I moved Daniel to the other side of the room and they began passing notes to each other. At least I believe they were notes"

"You mean you aren't sure?" Dean shifted upwards in his seat in a subtle challenge

"Well when I collected the notes they only had a series of lines and dashes on them."

Dean looked at Bela and she knew what he was thinking, the twins had been passing notes written in Morse code.

"Now there isn't much I can do about Daniel and Matilda interacting disruptively in class unless something is being done about it at home. I'm asking you please, for both of their sake, they have a negative influence on each other, maybe if they were to take some time apart it would be healthy"

"Okay first of all" Dean growled, "There is nothing unhealthy about our kids' relationship. They're brother and sister and that's how things are supposed to be."

"I only meant that-"

"And secondly your 'nonfiction assignment' about your student's personal lives was complete bull because you don't know about any of their lives so how would you have any idea who was telling the truth and who is lying. I mean for all you know I could have had a parakeet tortilla on a table made from my wife's amputated arms"

"Mr. Winchester!" She gasped, "I have to say that is highly in appropriate"

"Mrs. Ingram" Bela placed a restraining hand on Dean's arm before he could respond. "My children have completed their assignment regardless of whether or not some minor details have been stretched. Now unless you intend to run a background check on all of these stories then I will have to speak to the principal about this to figure out why you have singled out my children for harassment"

Dean and Bela walked out of the classroom and into the hallway out of earshot before Dean finally spoke

"They're dead"


	4. Chapter 4

Danny was waiting outside of her classroom when the bell rang as usual. Mattie thrust her books into his arms and they began walking down the hallway.

"Saw Dad and Mum on their way from Ingram" Danny huffed

"On a scale from one to ten?" Mattie ventured

"I'd say he's about a four, nothing we can't handle"

"A four? Bullocks, I thought for sure if we got him to laugh he would at be a three at most"

"He probably wouldn't be so mad at us if he didn't have to take a trip down here every couple of months" Danny sighed.

"It's not our fault that we're so"

"Delinquent?" He smirked

"Misunderstood" Mattie corrected with a pout "What do you have now? Math?"

"Physics"

"Well I have History, want to ditch and pick up Jude? He has lunch right now." She flicked her eyebrows up a few times

"Sure. I think it's about time we took a trip down to go see Johnny anyway and see who's been ragging on him" He winked with a grin

* * *

Danny fell backwards on his bed and stared at the ceiling. Grounded for a night, not so bad considering what it could have been if his parents found out about how he, Mattie, and Jeremy had handled John's bullies. A smirk spread across his face, Danny had a knack for picking apart people's insecurities, those wankers wouldn't be messing around with anyone, at least not for a while, and especially not Johnny.

There was one knock on his door before Dean let himself in. Danny sat up on his bed and put on his best remorseful face.

"I forgot, give me your phone" Dean ordered with his hand out. Crap. He had really hoped his dad would've let him off the hook easier than this. Guess he misplaced him on the anger scale; he must have been a five. Danny reached into his pocket and placed it in his father's hand.

"Thank you. Do you know why you're grounded?"

_Because I got sloppy_

"Because I was a smart ass. I should've just played the game and done the assignment the way I knew it should've been done"

"Your teacher is a tool, but you're better than that Danny, you're a smart kid. Don't waist those brains by becoming a professional wise ass on some high school teacher."

"Okay Dad"

"You'll get this back tomorrow" Dean flicked the phone in the air and slipped it into his back pocket. "Now I have to go pry away your sister's" He grumbled and left the room.

A few minutes later Jeremy barged into the bedroom.

"Took your phone?"

"Welcome home Dad" Danny huffed

"You should've just handed it in on time, then Ingram would've just met up with your Mum"

"Hindsight is twenty-twenty my friend"

"Weren't you supposed to meet up with Brianna tonight?"

"Bridget"

"I thought you were with Brianna Hainsworth" Jeremy squinted

"I was"

"What happened?"

"Bridget" Danny smirked

"Nice" Jeremy laughed, "So uh, I guess that means you're going to be home tonight. Do you think you can cover for me?"

"You sneaking out with that hot chick from your work again?"

"Esmeralda, and yes if you cover for me"

"Sure, go ahead have fun" Danny winked with a smile

"She's just my friend Dan"

"I didn't say anything" Danny raised his hands up defensively

"Good, because she's just a friend. Nothing else" Jeremy nodded reassuringly

"Of course not" Danny shrugged. Jeremy nodded again and sat down on top of Danny's desk.

"Hey Jude, don't be afraid" Danny sang softly

"Don't start" Jeremy glared

"You were made to go out and get her"

"Jack ass" Jeremy grumbled, slid off the desk and slammed the door behind him as Danny fell backwards on his bed laughing.

* * *

Esmeralda Fuego was beautiful. More than beautiful, she was a bombshell. She was slender and curvy in all of the right places, her eyes were a deep forest green and her hair was jet black and wavy reaching down to the middle of her back. Her skin was the complexion of a light cinnamon latte and her full lips were always tinted pink even though she never wore any makeup. She's the girl every girl should be jealous of, maybe they were seeing as though she didn't have any friends. She's the girl every guy should want, and maybe they all did somewhere deep down, they just didn't know how to approach her, partly because her looks were devastating, but mostly because Esmeralda was a little on the eccentric side.

Jeremy snuck into her backyard and picked up a few small pebbles from the ground. He took one in his hand and aimed it at the top floor. Her window. He threw one, it was a direct hit, it ticked off of her window and ricochet off with a click only loud enough that she would be able to hear. He waited a few moments and threw another, the window opened just before the pebble hit the glass.

"Ow!" She hissed

"Sorry" He whispered loudly

"Sh!" She whispered back and disappeared from view. A few moments later she reappeared climbing backwards out of the window. He moved up close to catch her just in case she fell. She didn't, she never fell. She dropped herself effortlessly onto the grass beside him and rubbed her head where the pebble hit.

"Nice shooting Tex" She squinted

"Don't be a baby" He scoffed before grabbing her wrist and running with her through the wooded area behind her house. They came to a small hut made of fallen tree branches and decorated with leaves. It was Esmeralda's secret spot. She showed it to him a year ago when it was just a bundle of twigs and an old rope. Over the summer he would sneak out at least once a week and they would go back to her secret spot and they would just sit there until 2am talking until one day, in the midst of heavy thunderstorm, Jeremy suggested that they build the hut bigger and more sturdy so they could be sheltered from the rain. It took them two weeks to make it big and safe enough for the both of them to sit inside of the hut comfortably, but when it was done, it sheltered them through much more than just the weather. It sheltered them through arguments and hard times, bullies and bad grades, and that creepy squirrel that lurked around outside of it. Esmeralda said that the squirrel had been living there since she had ventured out into the woods behind her house when she was five.

"That's impossible Em, squirrels don't live that long" Jeremy had told her doubtfully

"Yeah well you tell him that." She laughed.

Tonight they watched him from the shelter of the hut, which they had named Fort Alderaan in remembrance of the planet destroyed by the death star in Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope, the first movie they saw together on his laptop.

"Do you think he has any friends?" She asked dreamily

"What that creepy thing? No way"

"Oh don't be mean Jude, you'll hurt his feelings". Esmeralda was the only one outside of the family allowed to use that nickname for him. Nobody would understand where he got it anyway, his uncle used to sing that song to him when he was a baby because Jeremy's middle name was Jude and because Dean's mother used to sing that song to him when he was little. It was a family thing. Esmeralda heard Mattie call him Jude once when she had came by the pool to visit while he was working and she began to call him that as well. He would have corrected her if she had been anyone else, but she let him call her Em, so it was okay.

"Would you like someone talking about your kid that way?" She chided

"That's no kid, that's a poo brained forest rat" He wrinkled his nose

"Poo brained?" She raised an eyebrow

"Oh yeah. Definite poo brain"

"I think he's kind of cute." She said after a moment of deliberation "You know if you and I had a love child it would probably look just like that"

"A mutated squirrel?" He laughed trying to ignore the butterflies assaulting his stomach since she had implied that their relationship was more than platonic.

For the third time. This week.

"I'll just tell people that he takes after his father" She smiled widely

"How sweet" He rolled his eyes playfully, "What should we name him?"

"Meekus" She said thoughtfully

"Meekus Winchester?" He scoffed

"Meekus Fuego-Winchester" She corrected, "My last name is awesome, I don't want to leave it out. I'll hyphenate it."

"Fuego-Winchester" He wrapped a tentative arm around her shoulders half expecting her to flinch or move away uncomfortably. Instead she leaned towards him and rested her head his chest.

"I like the sound of that" He smiled

* * *

Jeremy sauntered carelessly down the sidewalk leading to his house. It was well past 3am and he would have about three hours of sleep maximum before his dad would come get him to go to school but he still took his time getting home. He took a deep breath, inhaling the sweet dampness of the night air and appreciating it's chilled simplicity for all it was worth. He looked up at the clear night sky and smiled as the stars blazed brightly at him as if to say "It's alright Jude, don't feel bad about sneaking out, wasn't this all worth it?" It will be if I don't get caught he thought back to them. He had never been hit in his life but he knew better than to mess with any of the adults in the house, his own dad being the toughest. His dad and Dean favored a military approach to punishment, most likely because their own father had been a marine and instilled discipline in them like a drill Sargent. Whenever Jeremy or his brother and cousins stepped out of line, they would have to run laps, do pushups, sit-ups, and other forms of physical labor. Jody would assign them house chores like a week of dish or laundry duty. Bobby took Jody's approach but took it to another level, scrubbing the floors and stoves with a toothbrush, gutter duty, and car detail all while reciting Latin incantations and exorcisms. Rissy was more conventional, loss of phone or television privileges and a period of not being allowed to go out of the house for fun, and typical grounding procedures. Bela was by far the easiest; all she would do was give a verbal warning not to misbehave again, most of the time afterwards she would even cover up whatever they had done wrong. At the very height of her anger she would threaten to tell Dean or his dad or Bobby or one of the others, but she never would. Jeremy didn't have to worry about getting caught tonight though; it was his dad and uncle's first day back so they were most definitely "occupied". He picked up his pace anyway, just in case. He was about a block from home when a car slowly pulled up beside him and rolled down the window.

"Hey kid" The driver called out. Jeremy turned his head to face the car but didn't slow his pace.

"Kid" The driver called again. Jeremy slowed down and slipped his hand into his back pocket, resting a hand on his knife.

"Kid listen to me" The driver demanded

"What do you want?" Jeremy asked pulling his hand out of his pocket with his knife tucked safely in his fist

"To warn you kid." The man answered "Your family is in danger"

"What? What are you talking about?" Jeremy growled

"Your family is in trouble kid, get them out of the house now. Tonight" The man said and began to pull away

"Wait!" Jeremy called after him causing the car to stop again. Jeremy approached the vehicle apprehensively

"How do you know my family? Who are you?"

The man sat in silence for a few moments; an eerie feeling swept over Jeremy and chilled him to the bone.

"I'm just an old friend Jeremy, I'm just a really old friend" The man said finally and peeled away. Jeremy watched the car disappear down the street; it took a few moments for him to process what the strange man had told him. He knew his name. His family was in danger. Get them out of the house now. Tonight. Now. Now. NOW! His brain screamed at him and he took off running towards his house at top speed.


	5. Chapter 5

"Dad! Dean! Mum!" Jeremy yelled as he stumbled into the house. The lights flew on in the house as he banged on everyone's bedroom door. "Wake up! Wake up!"

"What? What's going on?" Sam asked barging into the hallway

"What's is it boy?" Bobby flew towards them with a shotgun in his hand

"We have to get out of here! We're in danger!" Jeremy panted

"Whoa wait a minute, slow down" Dean said putting his hands on Jeremy's shoulders and holding him steady "Breathe"

Jeremy told them about walking home and running into the strange man in the car who claimed to be an old friend, and the stranger's warning.

Sam and Dean exchanged looks and turned back to the nervous teen.

"What were you doing out at this hour anyway?" Jody demanded

"Did this guy tell you what was coming?" Dean ran a hand over his face in exasperation

"No, he just said we have to leave tonight"

"What did he look like?" Sam asked in a low serious voice

"I don't know, it was so dark"

Sam and Dean looked at each other again and Dean shook his head.

"Alright here's what we're going to do. Jody, you and Bela are going to take the kids to Minnesota and stay with Adam for a while until we figure out what's going on here."

Bela who had been standing silently in the corner suddenly sprung to full attention.

"Are you serious?"

"Just for a little while Bela" He sighed

"No. What ever is coming, I can handle it. Chessa is a whole different ballgame"

"Fine, whatever we don't have time to argue." He rolled his eyes impatiently and turned back to Jeremy, "Go get your brother and cousins and pack some things, only essentials"

"We'll have a talk about why you were out past three in the morning later" Sam said sternly as Jeremy passed by him sending a shiver down his spine. He could have possibly saved the entire family from something horrible; that should count for something right? The look his father gave him before he climbed the steps to get his things gave him the answer. Nope.

* * *

The lights began to flicker a few minutes after Jody left with the kids. Bela made a large circle with rock salt and stepped inside of it as Sam, Dean, Bobby, and Rissy armed themselves. Rissy threw Bela a shotgun and joined her in the circle.

"What do you think it is?" Bela asked her in a low voice "Ghost?"

"Nah, I can't think of any reason for a spirit to be haunting us right now"

"Smell that?" Sam asked nobody in particular

"Sulfur" Bobby muttered

"Demon" Dean growled reaching into his pocket and pulling out his demon blade. Just then the front door slammed open and the king of hell took a few steps forward in the doorway but stopping before he made his first step inside.

"Hello boys" Crowley announced and pointed at the rug in front of him "Do you mind? I need to talk with you"

"It was just Crowley?" Dean gave Sam an annoyed look and walked over to the rug and broke the Devil's trap painted beneath it

"Expecting visitors?" Crowley raised an eyebrow, finally entering the house

"What do you want Crowley?" Bobby asked impatiently

"Sit down, have a drink, have a laugh, catch up"

"Really" Sam scoffed

"Yes really. So" Crowley pulled a flask from his pocket and emptied the contents into one of Bobby's whiskey glasses "How's suburban life treating you?"

"Well let's see" Rissy began "You scared my kid half to death by making him think we were in danger and now they have to spend the night in another state so-"

"I did what now?" Crowley asked defensively pulling the ice tray out of the freezer

"You told Jeremy that we were in danger"

"I can assure you that I've done nothing of the sort" He glanced up at her briefly and clinked three ice cubes into the beverage

"Then who did?" Sam watched the demon distrustfully

"That, I can't help you with." Crowley said dismissively gently swirling the liquid in his cup

"Then I'll ask again, what do you want Crowley?" Dean asked gruffly

"My my, aren't we a surly bunch" He looked around the room but was met with only silence and cold stares. "Well, I suppose we should get right to it then"

"Suppose we should" Bobby nodded

"We have a small problem on our hands gentlemen" He began and stopped "And ladies" He raised his glass slightly in Rissy's direction

"What kind of problem?"

"An Armageddon sized problem" Crowley spat "Or did you forget that the world was ending again"

"Kind of hard to forget when the children are on the line" Bela said curtly

"Yes well about that. Exactly how much do you know about their role in this whole thing?"

"Only what Dick told us, there will be another apocalypse and this time the kids were key players" Bela huffed impatiently, she spent so much energy trying to pretend that Dick was wrong and her children were safe, she knew that after tonight, there wouldn't be anymore pretending.

"Which doesn't make sense" Dean added, "Lucifer and Michael are still locked in the cage, there is no way out"

"That's true" Crowley nodded "But unfortunately our problems don't end with Michael and Lucifer"

"How can there be an apocalypse if they're stuck in hell?"

"It's purgatory"

"Oh you've got to be kidding me!" Rissy nearly shouted "What the hell? We closed that door already. It's been closed for years now. What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the fact that purgatory is not a closet door you can open and close whenever you want to. It was pried open, not once, not twice, but three times!" Crowley yelled back

"Yeah and so what?" Dean growled

"So when you swing a door open hard enough times, it comes off at the hinges"

"So how do we stop it?" Sam asked in a low voice

"You can't"

"Why not?"

"Because you're on the Titanic right now and anything you do would be like stuffing tissue paper in a glacier sized hole to stop it from sinking. You can't stop it from going down, the only thing you can do now is grab onto something and hope it floats"

"Where do the kids come in during all of this?" Bobby asked glumly

"They're the life rafts"

"Are you telling us all of this because you're going to help us?" Bela crossed her arms irritably.

"Yes actually I am. If the world ends, I can't make deals, if I can't make deals then I'm out of a job, and if I'm out of a job." He paused and raised his glass to his lips "Well let's just say that hell doesn't have a very good unemployment program"

"What kind of help are you talking about?" Bobby squinted suspiciously

"Hello, king of hell here, I can rally forces to help you. If there's going to be a war, we're going to need an army"

"An army of demons? You've got to be kidding me" Dean rolled his eyes

"Well if you've got any better ideas" Crowley looked around the room at them. Bela knew they didn't have any better ideas; their best idea thus far had been ignoring it altogether.

"No? Didn't think so" Crowley said and drained his beverage into his mouth. "How about we get a move on then before your house gets attacked again"

"Wait what? We were attacked? By who?" Dean lurched forward anxiously

"Two vampires just as I got here. Took care of them before I came inside" He dismissed

"What the-" Rissy exclaimed

"Welcome to the apocalypse ladies and gentlemen. This is only the beginning"

* * *

Mattie was awakened by the soft sunlight on her face. She sat up in a bed that wasn't hers and looked around the room that smelled of lavender and roses. If she had forgotten that she had spent the night outside of her own bed, she remembered now. She was at Uncle Adam's house in her cousin Lucy's bedroom. Lucy had been forced to share a room with her younger sister Kate for the night, and probably for however long Mattie and the rest of her family would be staying here. Mattie slipped out of the bed and fumbled in through the luggage bag she had clumsily packed up in the middle of the night and pulled out a toothbrush in a plastic bag. She hadn't packed a toothbrush and if she had she certainly wouldn't have thought to put it into a plastic bag. Jody must have grabbed it for her, how thoughtful. After getting washed and dressed Mattie made her way down the hallway where she was greeted by the sweet buttery smell of pancakes and mouthwatering bacon. Jeremy was still asleep on the pull out couch in the lounge area right in front of the open kitchen but Danny and John were awake and sitting on the bar stools in front of a row of kitchen counters designed to function more like tables than anything else. Mattie sat down in the empty seat next to her brother and he passed her an empty glass from in front of him. She grabbed the perspiring carton of orange juice next to her and filled the cup.

"Good morning sunshine" Adam smiled as he turned from the stove with a pan of hot pancakes in his hands.

"Morning" Mattie smiled back politely as he slapped down four large pancakes onto a plate and slid it to her.

"These look just lovely. Thank you" She nodded

"No problem. Chessa and the girls went out to get some supplies, we didn't expect any company and we were running low on groceries so they'll be back soon." He said as he placed the pan back down on the stove and made his way to the front door. He slipped on his white coat and grabbed a briefcase next to the coatrack.

"Well I'm off to the hospital, I'll be back in time for dinner. You know where everything is already so make yourselves at home."

"Bye" The three Winchesters said in unison as he exited out of the front door. Their uncle Dr. Adam Milligan, he and Rissy were constant reminders that even though someone is raised and exposed to the lives of hunters, they could still make it out, follow their dreams, and make something conventional out of themselves.

"So what the hell is going on here?" Mattie frowned and took a sip of her orange juice

"Some creeper stopped Jude on his way home last night and threatened him" Danny said through a mouthful of pancake

"Jody left about twenty minutes ago, I think they're going to try and find the guy or something" John added

"Did she say how long we would be here?" Mattie sighed. Danny shook his head and shrugged

"Can't complain too much though" John smiled "When was the last time we had pancakes and bacon for breakfast?"

The door opened again and Chessa, Lucy, and Kate came in with grocery bags.

"Hey you're all finally awake" Chessa nodded placing some of the bags on the floor next to the counter

"Thanks so much for breakfast Aunt Chessa, I hope this wasn't too much of an inconvenience" Mattie smiled politely

"Oh please, we love to have you" She dismissed "Your dad called this morning, says you four may be with us for a little while"

Mattie's heart sank. Surely her parents wouldn't leave her at her relatives unless there was something serious going on.

"So I took the liberty of calling the school and enrolling you for the time being" Chessa finished with a wink

"Don't worry about a thing, I'll show you around so you won't have to be nervous" Lucy chimed in proudly, swishing her long brown hair behind her in one fluid motion. Kate, who was standing directly behind her sister like a shadow flicked her honey blonde hair over her shoulder as well in careful imitation of her older sister. Mattie smiled, she had always wondered what life would be like if she had a younger sister, now is as good a time as any to find out.

"Kate, what grade are you in now?" Mattie asked while sliding a strip of bacon through a pool of syrup on her plate

"Sixth. This year I'm going to try out for the junior cheerleading squad" She beamed, delighted that the focus had shifted to her

"Nice, I joined the cheerleading squad when I was your age, then I was voted cheer captain"

"Oh wow! Really? Can you help me make the squad?"

"Of course sweetheart, with my help they'll be begging you to join" Mattie winked

"As long as you remember not to let those grades slip." Chessa reminded lightly

"I think you'll be fine with Einsteinette here as your big sister so no worries" Mattie grinned and nodded at Lucy. Lucy was on the principal's list every year at school since the third grade, her hard work was going to pull off big time, there were colleges from all over already offering her full scholarships and it was only two weeks into her senior year. Mattie admired her older cousin deeply for her hard work and dedication to school; however, you were only young once, given the choice between a weekend of studying and homework or exploring and being out with friends, she would choose the latter every time.

"Alright kids I'm off to work" Chessa said quickly as she grabbed her keys from off of the counter "Lucy, Kate, put the rest of the food away"

"Bye" They all called after her as she left. Chessa was a mortician, one thanksgiving Bela had joked that Chessa worked with dead people because they were the only people who could stand her company for an extended period of time. Chessa hadn't taken it well; she had thrown her entire plate of food across the table at her, Jody was cleaning cranberry sauce stains off of the walls for months. Horrible as it was, the kids looked forward to Chessa and Bela's reunions, they were very entertaining, plus it had no baring about how the cousins felt about each other, they had bonded over jokes about how much their mother's hated one another. Jeremy yawned from the couch.

"Good morning sleeping beauty" Lucy called to him while she restocked the refrigerator.

"Those pancakes?" He grumbled as he slumped off of the couch

"Yeah, my dad made them before he went to work, come help yourself"

He ignored her and tromped over to Danny "Any word from Dad?"

Danny just shook his head and stabbed his fork into one of Mattie's pancakes dropping it on his own newly empty plate with a loud flop.

"You know we still have pancakes here Dan" Lucy wrinkled her nose. He just nodded groggily.

"Mom doesn't like it when we eat off of each other's plates." Kate chided

"I won't tell if you don't" He winked

"Well how long are we going to be here then?" Jeremy asked grabbing Mattie's orange juice from her hands and taking a sip

"No idea" John shrugged as he reached over and grabbed Mattie's last bacon slice from off of her plate

"Oh come on!" She protested loudly

"Come on Mattie, let's get out of here before they start eating your face off" Lucy sneered "I promised to take Kate to the movies today, you should come"

"We're not invited?" Danny gulped down a mouthful of pancake and looked at Lucy with in mock disappointment

"Girls day. There are video games here and bikes in the garage, help yourselves"

"Don't need to tell me twice" He grinned. For a moment everything felt so normal, Mattie pushed the looming feeling of danger from her mind, this is how things are supposed to be. She and her family together, teasing each other, making jokes, and hanging out. Dad and Mom would be back soon and everything would go back to normal but in the meantime, she was going to kick back and relax with her family. A smile spread across her face as she grabbed her purse and followed her cousins out of the front door. Everything was going to be just fine, and if only for the moment, she convinced herself it was true.

* * *

Bela wasn't much for hand holding, she was never into the touchy feely displays of affection, somehow needing someone to hold her hand as she walked felt more infantile than romantic; today all of those thoughts flew out of the window as she clutched Dean's hand tightly with hers, her fingers interlaced with his so tightly that they cut the circulation off of her own fingers let alone his as they descended deep underground through the murky dark tunnels leading to Crowley's demon base. Maybe it was because it had been so long since she had interacted personally with demons or perhaps it was the fact that if Crowley was leading them into a trap, none of them would make it out alive, but Bela was biting back terror more and more with every step they took. She glanced up at Dean; his eyes were tense and apprehensive, it gave her small comfort that she wasn't the only one scared out of her wits right now. Sam and Rissy sloshed through small puddles behind them, they didn't seem as afraid, at least Sam didn't. He was wearing a dubious expression on his face as he walked several paces behind his wife, gently guiding her forward when she froze at the sight of five-pound rats wandering unaffectedly up and down the corridors.

When they reached the end of the tunnel Crowley opened a large metal door that resembled the door to a bank vault. Bela heaved a sigh of relief when she stepped inside onto the deep red carpet, the room actually looked like a room and not the creepy dungeon that she had anticipated.

"Welcome to my humble abode" Crowley announced as he sashayed to a minibar in the corner of the room.

"Where is everybody?" Dean asked smoothly removing his hand from Bela's and flexing his blood-deprived fingers

"They'll be here soon. I thought we should get a few things clear before we get this started"

"What things?" Sam asked scornfully

"I want to be clear that we're on the same page, you don't kill us and we don't kill you while we're out there fighting."

"Wait? _You_ don't trust _us_?" Dean scoffed

"No, as a matter of fact I don't. No more, I'm sure, than you'll trust any of us. However, I'm going to need to know that you will all control your deepest urges to slaughter the whole lot of us while we're at there together. No friendly fire"

"We're not one to turn on allies" Sam said shortly "Demons on the other hand are a different story"

"You have my word"

"Well that's comforting" Rissy sneered

"As I said, I have about as much to lose in this as you do if not more so yes, you have my word" He spat impatiently "Now if we have reached an understanding I'd like to get this thing moving"

Four demons appeared in the room in that moment, three large men and one woman.

"Stanley, Xavier, Carl, and Vanessa" Crowley announced gesturing his hand from left to right as he spoke "These are my four Generals. Right now they're rounding up their forces in preparation for the big showdown"

"So will this be enough? A small army of demons against all of purgatory? I mean no offense but you guys weren't much help against the last things that slithered out of that door" Rissy asked

"Not a chance" Vanessa answered "We're all going to die unless we rally up some serious forces on our side, which will be no easy feat considering your reputation but it needs to be done"

"That may take some time" Bela sighed in frustration

"That's exactly what we don't have." Dean grumbled as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cellphone. Danny was calling.

"How long do we have?"

"Few weeks tops" Crowley shrugged

"Fantastic" Dean grumbled and flipped the phone open to talk to his son.


	6. Chapter 6

Lucy had her own car so she didn't have to wait for the morning bus. Mattie, Jeremy and Danny carpooled with her while John and Kate got ready to catch their own bus to school. This school was much larger than the one back home and she had known the students there all of her life, now she was surrounded by hundreds of strangers who all seemed to notice her at once. She looked over at Danny but he was walking with the same confidence as he had back home, it reassured her, she took a deep breath and strode next to her brother with renewed self-assurance as Lucy lead them past hundreds of gawking eyes and into the guidance office to receive their schedules. Mattie's heart sank when she saw that she and Danny only had gym class together, he must have read her expression because he touched his fist softly to the side of her jaw in a gesture that said "buck up, you'll be fine kid" he smiled and gave her a wink before disappearing into biology.

"You have English first." Lucy mumbled looking over Mattie's schedule "Mr. Lenard is a piece of cake, just listen close and participate in class discussions and you'll do just fine. Tell him you're my cousin, he'll love you"

"We won't be here long enough for it to matter" Jeremy shrugged

"You don't know how long you'll be here, it always matters Jeremy" Lucy chided lightly "Now Mattie this is your class, sit in the front. I have to show take Jeremy to Math"

Mattie put her hand on the classroom door and raised her hand to Jeremy as Lucy guided him down the hallway. Mattie walked inside of the classroom and everyone fell silent. She wasn't sure if they were noisy before but they must have been because the sudden silence was deafening.

"Can I help you?" The teacher asked. Mr. Lenard she presumed.

"I'm new" She explained and handed him her schedule. He took it from her and looked it over while the class just stared.

"Okay Matilda Winchester. Winchester? Like the gun?"

"Yeah" Mattie smiled

"Okay Matilda, find a seat" He laughed handing the schedule back to her

She looked around, there were two seats open in the front row, she walked past them and made her way to the back. A girl with long strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes beckoned her over to an empty seat beside her. She sat down in the seat and put her book bag down.

"Hi" The girl whispered when the teacher turned his back to the class to right on the board

"Hello" Mattie whispered back

"I'm Amber" She smiled "This is Tommy" She nodded her head to the tall black haired boy green eyed beside her "That's Marie" She pointed to the brown haired freckled girl right in front of her. Marie turned around in her seat and gave her a friendly smile.

"I'm Mattie. Nice to meet you"

"Are you from England?" Amber raised her eyebrows

"No. South Dakota actually"

"So, where did the accent come from?"

"My mom" Mattie laughed, "She's a Brit, I picked it up from her"

"Oh" Amber nodded thoughtfully "So what time do you have lunch?"

"Uh, fourth period" Mattie said scanning over her schedule

"Great, that's the same time as me and Tommy, you should sit with us. I'll introduce you to everyone"

"Sure. Why not?" Mattie grinned. She looked at Amber and Marie, popular girls by the look of them. They were pretty and tall, their eyes were outlined in makeup and their clothes were short and perky. Tommy was handsome and athletic looking so he was probably a jock of some sort, not even a half an hour into the school day and a crowd already took her in, not too shabby. She just hoped John was having the same luck; he never fit in as easy as the rest of them did but that was what made him so beautiful. She couldn't concentrate on class however, or even Amber who was whispering and giggling to her and her friends, her mind was on her mom and dad, aunt and uncle. Danny had called their dad on Sunday night, he had assured him that they only had a few things to figure out and they would meet up with them soon but something was off in his voice, he wasn't telling them something, it must be pretty serious.

"Algebra last semester" Amber was saying as Mattie tune back into the conversation. The bell rang; the students shuffled from their seats and began filing out of the door.

"So what do you have next?" Amber asked as she scooped her books up from her desk

"Bio. Room 227"

"Oh nice" Marie exclaimed, "I'm on my way there right now. You can sit at my table"

* * *

"Hey Jim, this is Dean Winchester. If you can give me a call back at this number as soon as possible, it would greatly be appreciated"

"Hi, uh Henry, this is Sam Winchester, I don't know if you remember me from that hunt over in Mt. Vernon a few years back? You said to give you a call if I ever needed you and well, I could use your help on something so uh, if you could just give me a call back at this number, it would be greatly appreciated"

"Hey Moe, this is Dean Winchester-"

"Hey Martin, this is Sam-"

"Hi Rick this is Dean-"

"Paul, Sam Winchester here, wondering if you can help me out"

"If you could call me back-"

"If you could just give me a call"

"As soon as possible"

"As soon as you get this"

"I'd really appreciate it. Thank you"

Bela placed a hot cup of coffee in front of each of the brothers; they had been at it all night into the early hours. Bobby had been with them calling every contact he had in his book, but he, not being as young and virile as he used to be, had gone to bed hours ago.

"Any luck?" She asked pulling a seat closer to Dean

"It's like every hunter in America doesn't know how to turn a phone on." Dean grumbled

"Or they just know better than to answer our calls" Sam sighed

"Why don't we call an angel?" Rissy suggested hopefully

"Because we only know two right now, Cas hardly has enough juice to transport two people with him where ever he goes"

"He can take two now. He's getting better, we should ask him to help"

"It's a start" Bela shrugged

"Okay so Cas, maybe Gabe if we're lucky" Dean nodded "Do we know any other angels?"

"Don't think so" Sam shook his head "But like Bela said, it's a start"

"Okay so first thing in the morning we call Cas and Gabe, and it also wouldn't hurt to get Sala on our side" Rissy stretched widely

Dean looked down at his watch "It is morning"

"Well I mean, first thing after Sammy and I wake up again" She yawned tapping Sam on the shoulder. He slipped his cell phone in her pocket and followed her out of the room. Dean took a sip of his coffee and looked at Bela.

"You heading to bed too?"

"I don't sleep much these days," She admitted. He pushed Sam's coffee in front of her and nodded in understanding. She ran her fingers gently along the rim of the mug sighed.

"We spent so long ignoring this. Who would have ever known it would've come so soon? Or at all for that matter"

He didn't answer; he just rubbed his eyes with his hands and sighed deeply.

"I just don't understand what our children have to with any of this. What do they have to do with purgatory? They're only children"

"I don't know Bela. Your guess is as good as mine right now" He sighed flipping through another one of Bobby's phonebooks

"Do you ever think that maybe Sam was right?" She looked down at her fingers

"About what?"

"About us getting together so long ago. About us going along with the angel's master plan"

"Bela"

"If something happens to them Dean"

"Nothing bad will happen to them"

"You don't know that. If something does, how can we not blame ourselves?"

"If you remember correctly, we weren't left much of a choice" He shot her a look that told her to drop the subject but after holding these thoughts at bay for so long, she couldn't help it any longer.

"I could've left. I should have back in Chicago. I should've never gotten in your car" Her voice was thick and painful; it was all she could do to keep from crying.

"That's the last thing I want to hear right now" He growled pulling the flask from the inside of his coat and emptying some of the contents into his coffee.

"You don't agree?" She looked up at him incredulously

"Honestly?" He asked after taking a large gulp of his beverage "No. I don't think it would have made any difference if you didn't get in my car in Chicago. It would have happened anyway. I mean look at Sam and Rissy, he was going to go off the deep end sooner or later and meet her in the institution and Jeremy and John would have still been born anyway"

She felt a pang of regret when he mentioned Sam's mental breakdown. She remembered that much too well. She had caused it.

"Well, it may have happened later than sooner. If he had lost it in a different city or state than he would have never met her"

"What are you talking about? The guy was a time bomb; he was bound to crack. There was nothing any of us could've done to postpone that"

"Actually Dean, there was"

He looked at her quizzically, she had never told him that she had pushed Sam over the edge and she swore that she never would but tonight she was bursting with guilt and remorse.

"What are you talking about?"

"I slipped sleeping pills into Sam's drink while we were at dinner while you were away. I was only trying to help him but it didn't work, he went mad within an hour"

His eyes widened as what she had told him slowly began to sink in.

"You what?"

"It was my fault Dean. My fault that he met Rissy, my fault that I kissed you that night when we made love for the first time" She felt her eyes brimming with tears

He stood up from his seat, his jaw clenched and unclenched. He looked as though he wasn't sure whether to yell or to leave.

"Why didn't you tell me? I asked you what happened and you said you didn't know. Why did you lie to me?"

"Because I knew you would hate me, I knew that you would never forgive me for what happened so I couldn't tell you back then. Then as time went on, it just became too late to tell you" She looked up at him with pleading eyes "But now it all seems pointless. I know you're going to hate me now and I know that I deserve it because it's my fault"

The anger drained from his face and was replaced with pity and guilt. He was next to her in an instant stroking her hair as she finally gave in to the tears that she had bottled up for the past ten years. He held her until her trembles subsided and leaned over to kiss her forehead.

"Shh" He whispered soothingly "Come on Bela, I don't hate you"

She smeared the tears from her wet hot face and took a deep breath.

"I don't hate you. To be honest, I kind of figured that you had something to do with what happened to Sammy"

"Please Dean, how could you have known that? You were halfway to Frank's by then"

"Not even a full day after I leave you two alone and Sam's gone off the deep end. All he needed was a small push to send him flying over. I didn't know how, I just knew that it had to have been you"

"Then why didn't you say anything?"

"There was nothing to say, at that point I just wanted to find a way to help my brother"

She wiped her face on her sleeve feeling much better having gotten that off of her chest.

"And about you not getting into my car in Chicago and the kiss, that was going to happen regardless"

"I could have walked away Dean, either time I could have just walked away"

He grinned wryly "It's cute that you think so. Even if by some miracle I let you walk away from me outside of that bar in Chicago, I would've never let you get too far. Not with so many unanswered questions as to how and why you were brought back in the first place and you know that's true. And the kiss, well let's just say that if you didn't do it I was going to pay you a visit later that night anyway"

She laughed a little "That's a bit scary"

He took her hand gently in his "Truth is, I'm usually the one blaming myself whenever something goes wrong whether or not it's my fault, it's easier than letting myself realize that something is completely out of my control. But one thing that being married to you and having two crazy kids and nephews has taught me is that there are some things that will happen that are completely and utterly out of our hands, what's happened in the past is over, there's nothing we can do now but keep it moving. We have to find a way out of this and we don't have time for weakness, guilt, or doubt anymore so I'm glad you're getting this out of your system now" He put the hand that wasn't holding hers under her chin and lifted it slightly so they were looking at each other directly in the eyes.

"It wasn't your fault okay?"

She nodded and gave him a weak smile but he didn't release her face

"No Bela, I want you to say it. We have a hell of a load on our shoulders right now and we don't need any extra baggage so let me hear you say it"

"It wasn't my fault"

"Good girl" He said dropping his hand away and reaching out for his coffee

"You know adding alcohol to coffee is pretty counterproductive" She raised an eyebrow

He grumbled something under his breath that she didn't quite catch.

"What was that?" She grinned

"It's almost 5am, you should get some shut eye, we have a big day today"

She stood up; she was feeling drained and could use a couple of hours of sleep. "Come with me" She said softly to him before she walked by

"I'll catch up" He nodded unconvincingly. She leaned over and kissed the side of his mouth "We have a hell of a load on our shoulders right now, you need to be at your best. Come with me" She repeated

He closed the phonebook after a few moments and stood up taking her hand into his

"Good boy" She smiled and led him into their bedroom


	7. Chapter 7

**Triple Disclaimer (again): Pretty much all of my OC's are based on my friends and this entire story is geared towards pleasing them so if this really isn't your cup of tea, there are no hard feelings :o) for those of you who like this anyway, thanks for bearing with me even during the weird and boring parts**

* * *

Hearing her voice on the other end of the phone made him ache from missing her so much but he was glad that he called. He missed the sound of her voice.

"_Peanut butter smoothie_" She concluded her list of meals for the day with a happy sigh that made him smile

"Em, no offense but that sounds really gross." He laughed softly to keep from waking his brother and cousin who were sleeping on the surrounding couches next to him in the living room. It was well past 5am, they would have to get up for school in a few short hours and if he woke them up, they would definitely take it out of his hide.

"_Well have you ever tried it? It's not so bad when you blend in some celery"_ He could tell by her voice that she was distracted, perhaps painting her nails or something like that. Her nails were always painted, and not like how other girls paint their nails always chipping off or breaking. Esmeralda's nails were always perfectly intact in a vibrant shade of yellow or blue or sometimes even gray. Jeremy had never seen any other girl wear gray nail polish before and he doubted that they could even wear it nice if they tried it. Not like Esmeralda, she knew how to wear gray nail polish just perfect.

"Why don't you just eat celery dipped in peanut butter as a snack? Don't you think that would be more appetizing?"

"_That'll take too long"_

"Not that long" He shook his head even though she couldn't see "Probably less time than it would to blend it into a drink"

"_But then I would have to take time to eat it all"_

"You make time to drink it all"

"_But you can multitask when you drink, not when you eat. Plus I think my fingers would get messy" _

He wasn't going to win this one but then when it came down to it, he never won any sort of disagreement, discussion, or dispute with Esmeralda. She always had the final word and he liked it.

"Guess you have a point Em". A few moments of silence passed, he had just begun to think that maybe she had fallen asleep when she finally spoke again

"_When am I going to see you again?"_ Her voice was soft but there was a shadow of pain in it and it struck him hard

"I don't know Em" He sighed honestly "Until some family stuff gets sorted out"

"_I hate it here Jude, nobody likes me, I have nobody to talk to when you're gone"_

Jeremy felt regret and guilt building up inside of him and he was so powerless to help her, that's what hurt the most.

"You always have me to talk to, no matter what time it is you know you can always talk to me"

"_Will you visit me?"_

"When?"

"_Day after tomorrow. Come see me. We'll make a day of it. We'll skip school and go to the park"_

"How will I get there?"

"_I don't know Jude, you're usually the one with the ideas" _She laughed

"I can try Em but I can't make any promises" He frowned. He really wanted to see her; he had to find a way.

"_Hope to see you soon Jude"_ She said before the line went dead. If he didn't know better, which he did, he would've thought that they were in a romantic relationship. Wouldn't that be nice? He mused sinking back onto his bed. His eyes scanned his phone before the light dimmed out. 6am, he had to be up in an hour, time to get some rest.

* * *

Four of what felt like minutes but were actually hours later Bela was shaken awake from another dreamless slumber. Jody hovered over her bed with a tray of food and coffee. As the smell of sausage and eggs wafted to her and mixed with the sweet citrusy smell of the glass of orange juice Bela realized that she hadn't eaten a whole meal in days.

"Thought you could use some breakfast" Jody smiled weakly. Jody had aged considerably well after all of the years of work and family life but the stress from the past couple of days had creased deep lines into her face adding ten more years to her worn-out tired face.

"Dean and the rest of them are calling Gabriel and Cas?" Bela asked going for the coffee first

"They've tried Gabriel for a while but he hasn't answered" Jody said setting the tray down onto the nightstand next to the bed and sinking onto the bed beside her.

"And Castiel?" Bela reached over to grab a fork to spear a sausage with

"I left before they started calling him to bring you this"

"Thank you Jody that's sweet" Bela smiled and meant it. Bela loved her family very much and appreciated them all but there was something about Jody that she appreciated differently than the others. In all of the years living in this cramped overcrowded pen Jody was the only one that Bela couldn't challenge or argue with. Jody was tough and firm but she was so endearing, thoughtful, and genuinely kind and much too young for Bobby if she said so herself, which she did, much too young.

"It's no trouble." She nodded and stood

"Are you alright Jody?"

"Yeah. I just can't help but think that there's a storm coming" She sighed in the doorway

"Bela sweetheart?" Dean called up the stairs

"Yes dear" She called back into her forkful of eggs

"Cas is here, let's get the lead out"

* * *

"Mattie over here!" Amber called to her from across the football field. She was sitting on the bleachers with Tommy, Marie, and a large group of beautiful teenagers that looked a lot like they had just stepped out of one of those cheesy teen movies that she would occasionally catch Bobby watching on television when he didn't think anyone was paying attention. Truthfully she was getting bored of the whole lot of them, the stuck up superficial Barbie doll girls and the hyper masculine jock boy toys they spent their time with. Mattie didn't quite know why she had been selected by the school's personal version of the Bold and the Beautiful because despite her own good looks, her attitude was nothing like theirs, snobbish and arrogant, but she suspected that it had largely to do with her accent. And Danny. All of the girls wanted to get closer to Danny and when they figured out that she was his twin sister, everyone became her best friend.

"Hello everybody" Mattie smiled as she joined them on the bleachers. They all laughed as though she had just told them a hilarious joke. The way they all laughed at everything she said you would think that she was a bloody comedian or something.

"Say something English" Bridget, the short one with bleach blonde hair and bright red lipstick laughed flicking her hand at her

"I thought I just did" Mattie raised her eyebrow and leaned backwards onto the railing

"She means something British" Maria rolled her eyes lightheartedly as if that was a good explanation for her friend's impertinent ignorance

"I see"

"So, Mattie" Amber began shaking her head dumbly from side to side "How do you like this school so far"

"It's great, not much different from the last one" She shrugged

"You said you were a cheerleader at your old school right?" Nick asked. Nick was the captain of the football team in every cliché sense of the word. He was tall and muscular, beef headed and great looking and despite herself, she had to admit that she had a bit of a crush on him.

"Yeah, I was cheer captain for two years running"

"Great, you should totally join the cheerleading team then" Veronica squeaked excitedly. Veronica was a mousy little bugger; she was much thinner than the rest of them and looked as though she had starved herself into popularity. Mattie always had a slight urge to force feed her a cheeseburger and fries.

"Oh well I don't think I'll be here that long unfortunately"

"That's right, you're staying here with your cousins right?" Marie asked with a slight twitch of her head. Mattie met her gaze, Marie had known from the first day that she was staying with her aunt and uncle, what was she getting at?

"Yeah"

"We saw you carpooling with Lucy Milligan, she isn't your cousin is she?" Amber chortled. Something in her tone had Mattie's guard up in an instant.

"Yes, she is, why do you ask?" She said through a thin smile

"Oh nothing, let's just make sure that that little fact stays between us" Amber raised her eyes knowingly

"Definitely not something to broadcast" Bradley, football team's wide receiver guffawed dopily. Anger rippled through her like a sudden lightening storm but she kept her smile on

"Why not?"

"Let's just say she doesn't exactly fit in with our crowd" Tommy shrugged

"Is that right? Why not?"

"Nothing personal Mattie, she's just like a brainiac or something" Amber dismissed casually

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No. Not if you're into that kind of stuff"

"You mean the school kind of stuff?" Mattie raised an eyebrow. Her patience was running thin

"Let's change the subject" Veronica squeaked uncomfortably

"Yes. Let's" Mattie agreed tightly already scheming of ways to make them pay

"Let's change the subject to your brother" Bridget suggested with an unattractively exaggerated wink "He is single right?"

"Yes." Suddenly she knew exactly how to make these pretentious dimwitted snobs pay for insulting her Lucy. Time to take them down a notch

"Yes, he is" She smiled

* * *

They waited until Lucy had left the house to bring Kate to her ballet lesson before they began to plot their revenge. The Winchesters congregated in Mattie's room flipping through Lucy's old yearbook.

"Amber is technically dating Tommy but she'd drop her knickers for you at the slightest provocation. Beth is going through a bad break up with Bradley, she didn't say much but I saw her give Lucy a look as we left and it didn't sit well with me. Marie is a real bitch; I think she's the real mastermind behind the army of slags even though Amber thinks she's in control. Veronica isn't so bad but I want to crush her just for good measure and Bridget annoys me to no end." Mattie said to Danny in a low voice as she pointed to each of them.

"And their meathead counterparts?" He asked digging through his pockets distractedly

"Well I was thinking that J squared could take care of them" She smiled at Jeremy and John. John and Jeremy loved this sort of mischief; John was a bad liar but he was excellent at working behind the scenes, once he and Jeremy had stolen all of the markers, chalk, and erasers from school and hid them in the wooded area of the public park so that they could have an early dismissal and be home in time to greet their dads when they came back from their hunting trip. Surprisingly it had worked, it two weeks for the school to get back on track. It was worth it.

"Think we'll break into their gym lockers and dust their jockstraps with itching powder" Jeremy smiled

"We should outline their helmets with superglue too, for good measure" John nodded with a sly grin

"Sounds like a plan" Danny huffed "Where the hell are my fags?"

"I flushed them." John said meekly

"You what?"

"They're bad for you Danny, they'll kill you"

"I'll kill you" Danny gaped but his voice was nonthreatening

"What if your dad catches you?" John asked pleadingly

"You owe me ten bucks John" Danny said sternly

"Yeah well you owe me your life because if Dean ever caught you smoking you would be done for"

"You stole them right out of his pocket Johnny?" Jeremy looked at his brother extremely impressed

"John. And yeah"

"Mattie! Boys! Dinner's ready" Adam called out as he walked through the door.

"Sounds like we're eating take out tonight" John frowned

"Good. I was beginning to miss home" Mattie smiled widely and headed out of the room.

* * *

Dean, Sam, Bela, Rissy, Jody, and Bobby sat quietly around the table after Castiel vanished. He had provided them with all of the information that they needed to know about what they were facing. It was going to be a full-blown war; creatures from all over the globe and purgatory were going to be released and it's up to the children to save the world. Castiel was going to do his best to round up the angels to join the fight and Crowley was setting up his own demon army and as Bela looked around at the faces around her, she knew that it was time for them to build their own army. First things first however

"The children aren't safe, they're targets here." She had said to the angel twenty minutes ago

"They will probably fair better in Surena's palace. It's secluded and safer there" Castiel had assured them. Now the children were going to stay in Costa Rica, only for a little while, until things were prepared.

"What about Lucy and Kate?" Dean asked

"They should come too, it's no longer safe here for them"

This was only the beginning. When they all began moving again, they moved quickly, packing clothes, personal items and identification for their children.

"Bela" Dean said as he zipped up one of Danny's luggage bags "Remember how we always used to fight about you stealing artifacts and weapons?"

"How can I forget?" She shook her head

"Forget it all. Everything I said. You do everything you can to help us get as much of an advantage as possible okay?"

"Okay" She smirked because she was planning on doing that anyway

"Dean" Sam poked his head into the room holding his cellphone "Jim called back, he's in and he's going to start rounding up other hunters too"

"Good"

A legion of hunters was starting to form now. This is just the beginning but to what exactly? Bela hardly wanted to know.

* * *

Danny hated having to work so fast when it came to revenge. He was supposed to destroy six girls over the course of a single day, as per Mattie's orders, usually he would take his time but as she reminded him this morning, they don't have the luxury to take time for granted. Jeremy and John had done all of their dirty work last night, minus the glue in the helmets, in the end that job had been given to Danny as well because he would have easier access, but they had sanded down their cleats, put itching powder in their jockstraps and uniforms, John had also wanted to hose the uniforms down with pepper spray but Danny had decided that that was a bit much. Actually he was thinking of skipping the glue in the helmets also, John was very protective of the family but sometimes he gave Danny the impression that he was a little bit on the crazy side. Jeremy was skipping school today to go spend the day with that weird hot girl back home, he pretended to be running late so that Lucy would carpool without him without being suspicious so now the revenge was completely in Danny's hands.

Danny glanced down at his watch, he had sent Amber a text message to meet him underneath the staircase on the bottom left wing of the school at 10:30am, it was not 10:32, she was probably trying to be fashionably late so she didn't seem too eager. Cute.

"Danny?" He heard a whisper coming from the top of the steps

"Down here" He called up to her. What he would do for a cigarette right now.

She hurried down the steps trying very hard to look like she was taking her sweet time, however, her freshly applied lipstick and mascara decimated her attempts to look like she wasn't trying hard to impress him.

"You wanted to meet me here" She stated more than asked

"Mattie told me you had your eye on me" He smiled charmingly

"Really?" Amber blushed "I don't know why she would've said that"

"It's probably because I told her that I couldn't stop thinking about you. She said that I should try my luck with you because she was sure you felt the same" He took a step towards her. There was something about girls that got them excited when you invaded their personal space, probably from watching too many movies in which male aggression was glorified and sexualized. This wasn't Danny's ideal approach to women but it was a quick and effective means of seduction with Amber's type.

"Do you?" He raised an eyebrow

"I have a boyfriend." She breathed backing herself against the wall. Danny resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her theatrics; she looked as though she were playing out a scene to a movie, although it was making it easy on him to make his advance.

"And yet here you are, with me" He took another step towards her until they were only a couple of inches apart and stroked a strand of her hair back, tucking it gently behind her ear. She bit her lip and took a deep breath.

"Danny I shouldn't"

"Shh" He whispered gently tipping her chin up with his finger "I won't tell if you don't"

As he kissed her he heard the faint clicking of a camera, better make it look as incriminating as possible, he reached behind her and pulled her hips hard against his and pinned them there as she ran her fingers dramatically through his hair. That's right baby, play it up for the camera. Say cheese. As Mattie clicked away from a distance he knew it was only a matter of time before would have the pictures printed out and plastered all over the inside of Tommy's locker and God knows where else in the school. Danny felt a small pang of guilt realizing that this girl's reputation will suffer so greatly after this stunt but then he remembered Lucy, they started it right? The punishment didn't fit the crime he concluded pushing Amber away gently, although he would have a hard time convincing the others not to torture this girl and her friends he knew deep down that they were hardly worth the effort. Amber's eyes were still closed and her lips were slightly puckered as Danny backed away from her grabbing her backpack off of the floor. When she finally opened her eyes he was at the foot of the staircase.

"Where are you going?" She half pleaded, dropping all of her pretenses of cool disinterest

"Class. Fix your shirt." He said not bothering to hide the trace of disgust in his voice before leaving her alone under the stairwell fixing the fallen spaghetti straps that had fallen off of her shoulders.


	8. Chapter 8

Jeremy looked down at his phone. "_Why are we doing this again?"_ It was a message from Danny. "To defend Lucy's honor." He answered and looked out of the window of the bus, Danny was getting cold feet about this whole operation and it was probably because he wasn't there to encourage him that what they were doing was just but he had promised Esmeralda that he would meet her today and that was more important.

"_Starting to think this is overkill"_

"They started it"

"_They're pathetic"_

"And now it's time to take them down a peg". It took a few minutes before he got another message but this one was from Mattie.

"2 down and 4 to go" she had added a malicious looking smiley face to the end of the message that made Jeremy laugh

"How'd he get slag #2?"

"_He made her go out and buy him a pack of fags and told her to come back to him when she gained ten pounds"_

"She went to the store during school hours?"

"_He's got them eating out of his hands Jude. It's bloody brilliant"_

"I almost feel bad for them"

"_Don't. Have fun with your bird today" _Jeremy smiled and slipped his phone back into his pocket. He couldn't wait to see his friend again, it had only been two weeks but it felt like a lifetime. He had just begun to slip away into a daydream of how he and his friend were going to spend the day together when his phone vibrated with a message again. It was Danny.

"_Why are we doing this again?"_

* * *

Life was good. Mattie had just begun to overhear Danny's conversation with Marie and she was pleased.

"I'm surprised you wanted to see me, Mattie seemed upset yesterday. I didn't think she would've put in a word." Marie had giggled but she was testing him, she was smarter than the others and was weary of a trap.

"Mattie upset? Why would she be?" He had smiled innocently

"We had to break the news to her that Lucy wasn't exactly popular. She didn't tell you about it?" She asked challengingly

"No she didn't, why would she anyway? It's just your opinion"

"Not really an opinion" Marie had scoffed

"Did anyone ever tell you that you're beautiful?" Danny had asked sharply

"Not since this morning"

"Well you are" His voice was annoyed and impatient but Marie didn't seem to notice

"You're not bad looking yourself." She laughed

"You wouldn't be here if I was" Danny laughed harshly mocking her tone. Again she didn't notice. "Keep it cool Danny." Mattie thought to herself.

"True" Marie sighed. For a few moments all Mattie could hear were the sounds of kissing until it stopped abruptly

"What's wrong?" Danny panted

"N-nothing" Marie stammered. She sounded nervous

"Have you ever done this before? No? You're a virgin?"

"I know. It's weird right?" Mattie heard Marie whisper, she sounded very much like a small child

"I think it's sweet. You were saving yourself for me" Danny teased her with fake lovingness but Mattie could tell by the sound of his voice that he was beginning to feel guilty about this.

"You aren't even my boyfriend. This is so slutty isn't it?"

"Don't cut her any slack Dan!" Mattie screamed in her head

"Kind of yeah. I can't do this" He huffed

"Wait Danny, let's just wait until school lets out and then we can go to my house and-"

"No, I can't do this. Do us both a favor and just forget this happened"

"Danny wait" She sounded so uncharacteristically vulnerable, it almost made Mattie pity her, but not quite.

"Damn it Daniel" Mattie spat at him when he walked into the hallway

"Mattie what is your problem?" He sneered

"She messed with Lucy!"

"No she didn't. She said some stupid things that pissed us off but it's not worth all of this. Admit it Matt, you just want to torture them because you don't like them. This has little to nothing to do with Lucy and you know it" He frowned and grabbed the camera from her hands "I'm out"

"Where are you going?" She called after him as he stalked away from her

"Class" He said spinning around and walking backwards "You should try it sometime, you might learn something"

* * *

Cloud watching was her idea but Jeremy couldn't complain, he loved cloud watching. When he was little, he and his dad would sit in the grass together for hours just watching the shapes go by without saying a word. When his mother joined them, which she always would, she would ask Jeremy what shapes he saw in the clouds, she was always so interested in what he would say and where his small imagination would take him. Inevitably it would take him to a land of dragons and damsels in distress as each cloud that floated by added a twist to his story, then his mother would kiss his hair and tell him how proud she was that she was raising such a hero and Jeremy would swell with pride as his father would ruffle his short curly hair. Now as he lay in the grass next to his best friend, he couldn't help the wave of raw euphoria that swept over him for allowing him to re-experience some of the happiest moments of his life. Before the tension, before the strange looks and unspoken conversations made through eye contact, before he could notice that there were secrets in the house that only the adults were in on. A small spout of wind pushed some of Esmeralda's hair onto his forehead; it smelled like vanilla and sage. She extended one of her arms towards the sky and pointed with her perfectly polished forest green fingernail to one of the clouds.

"What does that one look like to you Jude?"

_That one looks like a big scaly dragon_

"I think it looks kind of like a fish." He said

"What's his name?" She asked lowering her arm back down to her side

"Uh, Tim. Tim the cloud fish"

"What does he do?"

"He floats in the sky with his other fish friends"

"Where did he come from?"

"What?" He laughed. Esmeralda propped herself up on one of her elbows and turned to him

"My dad told me once that every creature had a name and a story, even the ones in the clouds" She smiled

"Did he now?" He chuckled "Okay, then you tell me what that cloud's story is" He pointed up at another cloud right next to Tim the cloud fish

"That one's a card from a deck." She answered easily as though it was the most obvious thing in the world

"Which one?"

"Queen of Hearts" She shrugged and traced an outline of a heart in the air

"Okay" Jeremy laughed again "Tell me all about the Queen of Hearts then, what's her story"

Esmeralda sat up sending small specks of grass tumbling off of her back and head to the ground, the smaller pieces that didn't make it were caught on the soft strands of her dark hair to be removed later by careful plucking and a wash.

"She wasn't always a queen. First she was a Ten of Diamonds, her father and mother were the King and Queen of Diamonds, and they were very wealthy and very powerful but they desperately wished to expand their kingdom so they arranged for their daughter to marry the Jack of Clubs.

"The Jack of Clubs was a great warrior but he was ruthless and uncompassionate and the Ten of Diamonds didn't love him, still her mother and father insisted that she stop being selfish and marry the Jack of Clubs.

"Three days before her wedding she decided to run away from the kingdom so she packed up all of her things and left but she didn't make it far before the elements of the wilderness began to take their toll on her. She had never ventured outside of her kingdom before and therefore lacked the ability to survive."

"Poor girl" Jeremy smiled marveling at his friend's wild imagination

"Only four days after running away, the Ten of Diamonds was on the brink of death from dehydration and exposure."

"This story is so sad" Jeremy frowned

"But she was rescued by a drifter. A Jack of Clovers fed her, took her into his home deep in the forest, and nursed her back to health. For weeks they lived together in the wilderness without any complications, the only thing that they had to think about was survival and each other."

"I like that"

"But the Jack of Clubs was furious that his bride was taken from him and he searched with massive search parties through the woods until he found her in the arms of her new friend and lover the Jack of Clovers.

"Consumed by jealousy and rage the Jack of Clubs had the Jack of Clovers arrested for kidnapping and treason despite the Ten of Diamond's desperate pleas and protests. The Jack of Clovers was dragged back to the kingdom and the wedding was rescheduled to take place the afternoon of the Jack of Clover's execution. The morning before the execution and wedding the Ten of Diamonds snuck into the dungeon where her love was being kept and tried to free him but to no avail, the chains were too strong and it became apparent that there was no escape for them. The Jack of Clovers kissed her lips and told her that he loved her and would always be with her and to carry on but she swore to herself that she would not live without him."

"Em this is so depressing. Tell me that they escaped together"

"No. They both died"

"Wow"

"But when her chamber maids found her inside of the dressing room at the cathedral, they found that her body had transformed into a Queen of Hearts. Now She lives forever in the clouds with her lover the King of Clovers"

"I thought he was the Jack of Clovers"  
"He transformed into the King when he died" She shrugged knowingly and pointed to a cloud next to The Queen of Hearts "That's him right there"

"I think The King of Clovers just killed Tim" Jeremy laughed and looked down at his watch. Where had the time gone? He had to get back home before anyone realized he was gone. He stood and dusted himself off.

Esmeralda reached up a hand and he hauled her to her feet.

"I have to go" He frowned and she threw her arms around his neck.

"Be careful" She said softly and kissed him. Her lips against his, her body pressed so closely on his, she kissed him. She kissed him!

"Esmeralda?" He gasped. She kissed him! She kissed him! Jeremy was reeling; he was almost too dazed to see the gleam in her eyes. She always had a gleam in her eyes before she said something crazy that didn't make sense.

"Jude. You are a King among Clovers." She whispered into his ear but he was too elated to stop and think about how weird that was.

Danny and Mattie weren't speaking to each other. She saw him flirting with a girl from his last class after school had ended. Softie.

"Matilda" She heard someone call. She turned around and saw Nick waving to her.

"Hi Nick!" Mattie smiled walking over to him, it was wrong but she still felt so attracted to him.

"Want to hang out or are you going home now?" He asked shyly

"Uh, sure. I'll hang out" She shrugged. Why not?

"Great. I want to show you something" He beamed "It's where I go to think"

She laughed; he was so adorable, not at all like the other jerks he hung out with.

"Okay"

He reached out and grabbed her hand. "Come on"

* * *

John uploaded the extra pictures that Mattie had texted him from her phone onto his computer the moment he got home from school. Silly Danny, didn't he know that they would have a back up plan for when he chickened out? Mattie had even taken a video of Marie's confession

"_You're a virgin?" _

"_I know it's weird right?"_

Gold. Pure gold. John's internal laughter was interrupted by the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. Adam wasn't supposed to be back until after 5pm and Chessa had the day off, were they expecting visitors? John got up and walked to the window next to the front door. Uh oh. He grabbed the phone from his pocket.

The call went straight to voicemail.

"Jude, where the hell are you? Dad's here. Get back here right now! I don't know what to do!" John hissed into the phone quickly hanging up as his parents, uncle and aunt walked inside.

"Hey!" Sam smiled at him scooping him into an easy hug

"Hey dad" John laughed nervously "I didn't think you'd be here so fast"

"You haven't seen us in almost two weeks? You call that fast?" Sam scoffed and Dean furrowed his brow.

"Where is everybody anyway?" Rissy asked dropping a large luggage bag on the floor "We need to get going"

"Danny and Mattie stayed afterschool today" John answered hastily

"Where's your brother?"

Jeremy swallowed hard, his throat felt so dry.

"He, uh, he stayed afterschool, uh too" He nodded and ran a hand over his hair

Chessa walked in just then "Really? I thought Jeremy said wasn't interested in afterschool activities. He usually comes right home. "

"Oh, uh he wasn't interested until now" John stammered nervously "Because of Danny calling him to go back to school. Danny called and asked for him to go back to school to stay with him because he was going to extra help and uh, Jude was like 'I need extra help too' and Danny, he told him to come. Too."

"How did he get there? Lucy has the car, he didn't have a ride did he?"

"He walked" John said too fast, there wasn't even the slightest chance that Jeremy would have walked to school from here. "To the cab and then he took it. He took a cab back to school" He added. Everyone in the room just stared at him; he felt the sting of nervous perspiration under his arms. God damn it Jeremy! He cursed his brother in his mind.

His father's eyes bore down on him "He walked to a cab?"

"Yeah I thought it was crazy too" John nodded vigorously

"Oh-kay" Dean flicked his eyebrows up "Well I'm going to go pick them up, Sammy you coming?"

Sam, whose suspicious eyes hadn't left John who was squirming uncomfortably under his gaze, answered "No. I think I'll wait here just in case Jeremy decides to come back early"

"Okay, I'll be right back. Bela?" He turned to his wife and held the door opened for her

"We'll be back" She flicked a two finger wave into the air and was gone.


	9. Chapter 9

Nick led Mattie into the empty gymnasium and released her hand once they were underneath the bleachers.

"Are you serious Nick? This is where you come to think?" Mattie smiled wryly

"Why not? It's quiet and peaceful" He smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist "It's nice to get away from it all sometimes"

"Underneath the bleachers in an empty gym? Sounds a bit depressive to me" Mattie shifted uncomfortably in his arms

"It's not so depressing when you have someone with you" He said in a low voice

"And when you don't have someone with you?" She raised an eyebrow. He pushed a loose hair out of her face and kissed her forehead.

"You're so beautiful. You know when I first saw you, do you know what I told my friend?" He whispered

"Oh Nick, what ever did you say?" She asked in mock seduction

"I said that you looked like an angel"

Mattie burst into laughter. "Oh you've got to be kidding me"

Nick released her from his arms and took a few steps back

"I'm serious!" He huffed

"Oh, I'm sorry dear. Please continue." She pouted

"You know I didn't know you were Lucy's cousin when I saw you"

"Well, I take after my mother" She smiled

"Besides, you two act nothing alike" He grinned taking a few steps towards her again

"Is that a compliment or an insult?" She shook her head

"Yeah. Well I mean she's such a good girl you know? Not like you, you're so free"

"Who says I'm not a good girl?" She squinted as he wrapped his arms around her waist again

"I only mean that you're so spirited and untamed, you don't really strike me as daddy's little girl" He whispered as he nuzzled his face into her neck

"I'd hate to break it to you Nicky, but I am a daddy's girl." She laughed nervously placing her hands on his arms to break the embrace. He started kissing her neck softly ignoring her protesting hands.

"Nick" She grunted as she pushed at him

"What is it baby?"

"I'm not ready for this" She squirmed

"Shh, it's okay. Don't be afraid. You trust me don't you?" He asked looking deeply into her eyes

"This just doesn't feel right. I think I should go find Danny"

"Why? Do you think I'm going to hurt you or something?" He frowned

"No, I-"

His lips crushing down on hers silenced her. She felt wrong but she couldn't deny the rush of adrenaline surging through her. She didn't know whether to kick him where it counts or submit to her more primal urges. He thought he was stronger than her, and perhaps in some aspect that was true, but she could easily take him down with all the combat training she had under her belt. She just wasn't sure she wanted to take him down. She felt his hand run up her leg and slip under his skirt, squeezing her thigh. She dropped her hand down and pushed against his wrist but he kept his hand firm against her, his fingers wandering upwards around the waistline of her panties.

"Nick don't-" She panted breaking the kiss.

"What the-" She heard a voice say, before it could register whom the voice belonged to, Nick flew backwards off of her. She froze as Nick stumbled to catch himself before he crashed to the floor.

"Dad" She gasped at the man standing before her, his eyes swimming in anger.

* * *

Death. Death awaited her at home, if she survived long to make it home. Her father's hand grasped her wrist tightly, not tightly enough to hurt her, just tightly enough to let her know that she was absolutely doomed. He yanked her across the schoolyard, all eyes were on her, some were pointing and gaping, others were snickering. Coming to school tomorrow would be punishment enough, maybe her dad would figure the embarrassment was suffering enough. The stone cold expression on his face assured her otherwise. The parking lot was miles long; it took hours to reach the car. Every second that passed was an hour at least, how would she survive the yearlong drive back to the house? She had thought that she would be relieved when she reached the car, her dad's Impala, his most prized possession which he had to put in storage so many years ago when the leviathans were at their worst, he was always happier when he drove it; but she wasn't relieved to see it. No. Today her dad's Impala would serve as a chariot to the hell waiting for her when she got back home. He swung her forward by her arm and she flew ahead of him. She turned around to face her father, he was still too angry to speak but he jerked his head to the car and she knew that he meant for her to get in so she obeyed. Her mother was waiting inside of the car, if she had one chance at mercy; her mother was it.

"Mummy" She whimpered out after her father walked back towards the school

"What's wrong?" Her mother turned to her in pained confusion

"Dad, he's got it all wrong. It wasn't how it looked." She sobbed

"Mattie calm down. Tell me what happened" Bela reached out and stroked her daughter's hair.

* * *

"Call me" Linda smiled widely as her friend lead her away.

Danny just winked at her and took a long drag of his cigarette. He was starting to like it here. The phone vibrated violently in his pocket. It was a text message from John.

"_Watch out" _was all it said.

"Watch out for what?" Danny asked out loud just as the blow landed on the back of his head sending the cigarette flying out of his mouth. He grabbed the back of his head and spun around ready to take his assailant who had so brutally slapped the back of his head down, but when he turned around, he felt the blood drain out of his face and pool to the bottom of his feet, cementing him to the ground.

"Dad" he breathed. His father stood before him wearing a face Danny had never seen before. His jaw was locked and tight; his eyes piercing, and sharp like daggers.

"Dad please I" Danny didn't know what he would say if he had the chance, but it didn't matter because his father had him by the collar and was pulling him close.

"Smoking?" He rumbled through clenched teeth "You're smoking?"

His father released his him from his tight grasp causing Danny to stumble a few steps backward. Danny felt the acid in his stomach burning as anxiety swept over him.

"Where's Jeremy?" Dean asked shutting his eyes tightly

"He went home already. He's not here" Danny managed to say somehow. Dean's eyes shot open. Oh dear Lord, Jude wherever you are; run.


	10. Chapter 10

Nothing could have prepared them for this sort of explosion. They weren't daft, they knew that if their parents ever caught them misbehaving in this manner that there would be hell to pay but they had never actually pushed their parents all that far. The most they've ever done was annoy them with parent teacher conferences, skimming on chores, and other minor offenses with relatively moderate consequences. This was something entirely different. As Dean all but threw his kids down onto the couch back at Adam's house, it was all Dean could do to not slug his kids over the head. Sam looked dangerously close to doing just that to all three of them, John included since he failed to provide an adequate reason for his brother's absence. Rissy was standing thunderstruck in the corner of the room completely speechless as Bela explained what Dean had witnessed at the school while Jody sat on the edge of one of the kitchen stools with her head in her hands. Bobby was shaking his head in the corner; his face was beet red with anger and his lips were pressed tightly against his teeth as if he was using all of his strength to hold something in his mouth.

"I am going to ask you one more time!" Sam shouted into John's face. As he towered over his fourteen-year-old son, he looked like a lot like a giant that Rissy would describe to them in bedtime stories she would sometimes read to them when they were little and couldn't sleep.

"Dad I" John whimpered as he crumpled into pathetic heap

"Don't 'Dad' me! Where is your brother?" His voice was loud and frightening rumbling through their bodies and rattling their bones and insides as if they were in the middle of an earthquake. Any ounce of courage that John had been clinging to vanished in that instant and he began to sob and tremble in fear.

"He, he-"

"He-he what?" Sam hadn't backed down an inch

"He went home to see his friend!" Mattie screeched unable to bear anymore of the heat coming down on John

"Who?" He rounded on her quickly

"I don't-"

"Who?" Sam shouted at her but he hadn't moved from his position over John who flinched with his father's every word

"I don't know!" She shook her head. It was true, she didn't know who he was with, he had only told Danny and Danny didn't seem to be focusing on his furious uncle. No, Danny's eyes were plastered on his father who was pacing back and forth like an angry junkyard dog waiting impatiently for it's chance to rip your throat open.

"Mattie I-" Sam had begun but was interrupted by the door opening. In walked Lucy and Kate.

"What's going on?" Lucy froze in the doorway

"Come in kids" Chessa beckoned them inside. As soon Lucy moved from the doorway Jeremy appeared behind her. Sam had him by the collar in a split second.

"Dad!" Jeremy cried out in shock

"Sam" Rissy called finally regaining animation

"Where. The hell. Were you?" Sam demanded, his knuckles digging in his son's chest from the locked grip on his son's collar

"Sam put him down so we can talk about this" Rissy leapt over and placed a soothing hand on her husband's and gently removing Jeremy's shirt from his grasp.

"Go sit down Jeremy. I think that it's about time that we all had a talk"

Dean stopped pacing and looked at Rissy.

"Okay I know that there's a lot of stuff going on right now that we need to discuss, but right now I think I need to talk to my kids in private"

"Dean I really think that we should all handle this together"

"No offense Rissy but that's just not going to happen right now. Chessa, is there some place else private we can go?"

"There's a den out back with some furniture in it, you can sit comfortably in there" She said and nodded her head at the outside. Bela looked at the terrified blood drained faces of her son and daughter as they moved sluggishly from their seats on the couch to follow their father to the den. She wasn't happy about their little escapades either but wasn't it a bit hypocritical to come down so heavy on them when she and Dean had made the same mistakes when they were young? Bela had smoked when she was growing up, it was a phase she had grown out of and Dean was no stranger to intimate situations at a school setting with people he hardly knew. From what Mattie had told her, her encounter wasn't entirely consensual either, in reality they should be going after that cheeky bastard who was pressuring her. Dean held the door opened for them and they filed into the den, he shut the door behind them and stabbed his finger at the chairs in front of him. The twins quickly obeyed his silent command. For a man who had settled all of his confrontations with his brother when they were growing up through fist fights and shouting matches he was keeping surprisingly cool, but judging by the vein pulsing in his forehead, he wouldn't be able to keep that cool for much longer.

"Okay" Bela decided to speak first for safety reasons, "I think we should get some facts straight and clear up any misunderstandings before we take this any further."

Bela had never played mediator before, she had always been at least one party on the receiving end of any sort mediation she was involved in with Dean being the other party; but she had seen Rissy, Jody, Bobby, Sam and even Dean at times do this before so it shouldn't be too hard. Bela was a master manipulator; this was just another form of manipulation right?

"Dean, Mattie told me what happened in the car and-"

"She told you that some guy had his hand up her skirt in the middle of the gym?" He stormed

"Dad it wasn't like that!" Mattie pleaded quickly giving way to the tears that had been threatening to spill from her eyes since they had arrived home

"Oh really? What was it like then Mattie? Because it look a lot like you were playing tonsil hockey with some jock douchebag who you just met underneath the bleachers in the gym!" His voice was loud and gruff as though his vocal chords had been rubbed raw with sandpaper.

"Do you know what kind of girls who make out with jock douchebags underneath bleachers? Fast girls and girls with daddy issues" He had counted each point on his fingers in a quick change in tone. "So which one are you?"

"Dad I'm not-"

"Do you not get enough attention at home or something? Do I not hug you enough?"

"Alright Dean, that's enough" Bela snapped, "Why don't you give her a chance to explain herself. Mattie, tell your father what you told me in the car"

"Oh this should be good" He smiled and crossed his arms

"I didn't want that to happen, I was pushing him off of me when you came in, I told him that I wasn't ready and-"

"Wait, what are you saying? That he forced himself on you?" Dean asked in another rapid shift in tone

"No! He didn't mean-"

"Did he force himself on you?" He was shouting again, but this time his fury wasn't directed at her

"No! He just"

"He just what?" Dean's eyes were wide with anger

"Will you let her speak?" Bela said loudly

"He was trying to get me to-" Mattie continued meekly

"He was pressuring you?" Dean interrupted loudly

"No! I- I don't know!"

"Of course he pressured her Dean, he's a teenage boy in high school" Bela said calmly

"What's his name?" Dean asked coolly

"What?" Mattie gasped

"Dean stop."

"Stop? Your kid just tells you that a guy was pressuring her, trying to coerce her into having sex with him in a public gym and you tell me to stop? What the hell is the matter with you? In fact Bela, if you knew this, why didn't you tell me this while we were still at the school?"

"So you could go and beat up a sixteen year old boy?"

"So I could ask him what the hell his problem is! Bela what the hell is wrong with you? Why doesn't this bother you?"

"I didn't say it doesn't bother me, I just think that it's unrealistic that she wouldn't ever kiss a boy at her age. You remember how you were when you were that age"

"That's exactly why I'm pissed off! Do you know what I used to do with girls like her?" He threw an arm out in Mattie's direction "How are you okay with this?"

"Well I don't exactly expect her to be a nun" She shrugged

"A nun" He gaped and shut his eyes tightly before speaking again

"Okay, I get that you don't know how things work when you're a kid this age given your lack of a childhood or adolescence, so how about you go take a walk or go buy Lucy and Kate ice cream or something while I handle this one"

Bela clenched her fist as a wave of anger and embarrassment washed through her "Don't you dare undermine me in front of the kids"

"I'm trying to let you off the hook Bela because you obviously have no idea what you're talking about because you've never experienced it before"

"Oh and I suppose you're an expert at being a sixteen year old girl?"

"No, but neither are you." He said matter-of-factly

"Please don't fight" Mattie cried, "It was all my fault. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it"

"What was his name?" Dean asked without breaking eye contact with Bela

"Daddy, please don't make me tell you. It won't matter after today anyway. If you're here than we'll be leaving soon and I'll never see him again!"

"What was his name?" He yelled at her loudly

"Cool it" Bela shouted over him

"You know for someone who doesn't want to be undermined in front of the kids, you certainly have no trouble doing it yourself"

"Mum and Dad please" Mattie begged "It was my fault I was wrong."

"No this was my fault" Dean growled turning to her "It was my fault to think that I raised you better than that, it was my fault to trust you to make smart decisions and not give in to peer pressure, it was my fault that I gave you too much freedom at your age when you obviously couldn't handle it. I gave you too much rope and you hung yourself. Same goes to you Daniel."

"Dad please, I'm so sorry" Danny pleaded softly

"Not yet you aren't" Dean continued in a low growl "You haven't even begun to feel sorry yet. You see I think that this wasn't an act of teenage rebellion, no" He leaned over until his face was right in front of theirs "I think that this was a cry for attention so from now on it's going to be you two, me and your mom. No phones, no friends, no computers and no television. From today on consider yourselves on lockdown including random bed checks while you sleep and God help you if you're not asleep when I check you. You won't take a pee without checking in with me or your mother do you understand me?"

Mattie and Danny nodded their heads robotically. Bela frowned but she didn't say anything this time. She did want her children to be safer, she would let him try his method out and if it didn't work out to her liking she would end it plain and simple.

"You wanted Daddy's attention you got it." Dean smiled


	11. Chapter 11

As it turned out, Sam's punishment for Jeremy and John wasn't too different than Dean's was for the twins. Rissy had tried to lobby for John to be exempt from the punishment and for a less severer sentence for the older ones, but when John opened up his laptop again a short while later, Chessa saw the videos that he and Mattie had schemed to upload of the popular girls who had talked about Lucy, and John ending up sharing the same fate as his brother and cousins. Fortunately for the kids, they didn't have time or luxury to be grounded. Costa Rica was beckoning them and they had to move fast. Lucy and Kate were more than just a little put out that they were going to have to miss school, Lucy was upset because of the setback she would have to face academically, and Kate because she had just mastered a cheer routine that Mattie had taught her that would most definitely make her a first choice at tryouts; but neither of the girls were bold enough to argue with their parents' orders.

Adam and Chessa saw them off at the airport, unable to take off from work on such short notice, they promised to catch up as soon as possible. When it came time to board the plane, Jeremy lost all composure and refused to leave his seat in the airport terminal until he got his phone back so he could call Esmeralda. He was so determined to get his way that even when Sam had threatened to throw him over his shoulder and carry him onto the plane, Jeremy just gripped onto the armrest in his chair harder and said he wouldn't move. When Sam dropped all of his bags and approached his son Rissy had intervened and proposed a compromise. Jeremy could call his friend and say goodbye so he could relax and get on the plane, and Sam could calm down before he popped a blood vessel so that she wouldn't have to be a widow. It seemed fair enough, Mattie and John had overheard Rissy talking to the rest of the adults of encouraging good behavior through positive reinforcement instead of negative attention. The rest of them had reluctantly agreed to at least give it a shot; she did have a PhD in psychiatry after all.

"Em?"

"_Jude, where have you been? I've been trying to call you for days"_

"I couldn't call, my dad found out that I cut school and kicked my ass to next Wednesday, anyway I've been grounded so I didn't have my phone"

"_Oh. I thought you were avoiding me because I kissed you"_

"No way!" He gasped in shock "I mean, I don't mind that you kissed me"

"_Okay good"_

"So does that mean you like me? I mean are we like together now?"

"_Were we not 'together' before?"_

"No I mean like, are you my girlfriend now? Or whatever"

"_I thought I already was your girlfriend."_ She said as though she was confused

"Jeremy!" Sam shouted at him as the line to board moved forward

"I'm coming dad!"

"Now." He hissed

"Look Em, I have to go. I have to go away for a while. I'm going to be out of the country and I don't know for how long"

"_You're leaving? Why?"_

"I don't know yet. They said that they would explain it to me when we got to Costa Rica"

"_You're going to Costa Rica?"_

"Jeremy!"

"Yeah. I'll try to call you when I get there"

"_Okay Jude. I'll really miss you"_

"I'll miss you too. I'll call you okay?"

"_Okay"_

"Bye!" Jeremy said quickly and closed his phone when he saw his father taking long strides towards him. He reached the phone out and Sam grabbed it.

"Move" Sam snarled through his teeth

* * *

Costa Rica was absolutely gorgeous, it didn't matter to Mattie that she had visited Costa Rica every summer since she was a toddler; the beauty of it all still took her breath away. When the plane landed she had been tempted to ask if they could check into a hotel for the night and spend the day at a beach but thought better of it when she remembered that she was still in hot water from a few days before. Danny gave her a look that let her know that he was just thinking the same thing. He looked terrible, Mattie and Danny had smoked together a few times afterschool but she didn't ever want to as much as he did. Danny had his first cigarette when he was twelve years old during a game of truth or dare at a sleepover at their Georgie Lorenzo's house. Christopher Parkens, the best hockey player in school, had stolen a pack from his mother's boudoir with the intent to flush them down the toilet but changed his mind when he was invited to the party. Danny started smoking regularly about a month afterwards. It had been three days since he had a cigarette and his face was pale and tired, Mattie felt nothing but sympathy and remorse for her brother, he had it the worst out of all of them.

Danny placed a hand on his forehead, his head was killing him and Dean noticed.

"Head hurts?" He asked Danny

"Yeah. I uh, it really hurts" Danny frowned meekly

"It's from withdrawal. How much did you smoke Dan?" Dean asked in a mixture of what sounded like pity and frustration

"More than I should've" He admit softly

"One was more than you should've. I'm talking about what, a pack a week? More?"

"More"

"How much more? Are we talking about two packs a week or like a pack a day?"

Dan just looked down at the floor silently, incriminatingly

"A pack a day?" Dean shook his head incredulously "Dan, what the hell were you thinking?"

"I'm sorry Dad" Danny was on an emotional rollercoaster all morning, mostly jumping back and forth from irritability and sadness, he looked like he might cry

"Yeah well me too kid, things are going to get really rough for you for a while as this stuff gets out of your system."

"I know"

Kate, however, who never been to Costa Rica before and didn't seem to notice or mind the tension between her cousins and the other adults didn't hesitate to ask what they all were too afraid to.

"Uncle Sam can we go to the beach?"

"No, I'm sorry sweetheart we have to get moving pretty fast. The woods aren't safe at night so we have to get through them while there's still daylight"

Kate pouted her lip and heaved a sad sigh "Okay"

"Next time you should ask Bela" John whispered to her as they walked out of the airport

"My mom says not to ask Bela for anything"

"Well then start getting used to a whole lot of 'no'" Danny snapped irritably and pushed past her to put his bags into the trunk of the cab

"Don't mind him, that's not even true, it's just the nicotine, or lack of nicotine talking. But you can ask my mom for anything you can ask the others. Our mom's say silly things sometimes but they don't really mean it." Mattie said placing a soothing hand on her cousin's back. "Are you excited to see unicorns? The colony is so beautiful"

"Yeah! I can't wait to see the Queen and the Angel and the princess" Kate said dreamily. She had never met Castiel, Surena, or Angelina because Chessa had wanted to keep her children as physically far away from the supernatural world as possible so all Kate knew about unicorns and angels were from peaceful stories her mother would tell her to keep her somewhat informed.

"What is the princess like?" Kate twittered excitedly on the car ride

"She's awesome" John smiled "She has all these cool powers and she can control the weather"

"She can also move things with her mind" Jeremy added with a flick of his eyebrows

"And she wears flowers in her hair" Mattie said stroking her cousin's hair

"Wow! What does she look like?" Katie squealed

Danny, who had been staring silently out of the window for the whole ride, spoke softly without turning to face her

"She's beautiful"

* * *

Despite her excitement and best efforts to stay awake, Kate fell asleep long before the boat even came to bring them across the river to the colony. There wasn't a doubt in Mattie's mind that Kate would be tearing her hair out when she woke up in the morning and found out that she had slept through her very first unicorn ride but Lucy had stayed awake and was completely mesmerized holding on to Jody's waist as they zipped into the beautiful colony. Surena and Cas greeted them when they reached the palace. Surena babbled on excitedly as she lead them to their familiar rooms and kissed the kids goodnight.

"Get some rest" Dean told Mattie kissing her head "I need to talk with all of you in the morning. It's important"

He didn't need to explain to her that he was going to talk to them about why they fled to Costa Rica on a moments notice. She already knew it was going to be a big deal. She threw her bags in the corner of her room and flopped down onto her bed. It was exactly the way she had left it a few months ago during her summer visit. Her pillow still smelled faintly of Angelina's hair from their frequent slumber parties. She would see her friend tomorrow and couldn't wait, the excitement was almost enough to keep her awake and thinking about it but eventually she drifted off to sleep with dreams of adventure and laughter.

Angelina wasn't at breakfast the next morning. Neither were Surena and Cas. The entire dining hall was empty except for the familiar six adults that she had grown up with all of her life, her brother, and all of her cousins. Tension and severity hung so densely in the air that Mattie was tempted to open up a window to relieve the pressure.

"Kids we need to talk" Sam began, all traces of anger and disappointment from before had vanished, he spoke with a dark importance that made Mattie shift uncomfortably in her seat.

"What's the matter dad?" John asked seemingly oblivious to the tone in the room as he slathered fresh apricot jam onto a piece of toast

"You kids already know about our line of work and you know about purgatory and angels and demons so we're not going to beat around the bush with you"

"Did purgatory break?" John asked as he took a large bite of his extremely crunchy toast

"How did you know that?" Dean asked him seriously

"Well I just figured that it was probably something like that." He admit; throwing crumbs out of his mouth as he spoke.

"Yes. Purgatory broke" Dean nodded gravely

"Can't you just fix it like you did last time?" Lucy frowned. She, unlike John, hadn't touched a single piece of food that Surena had heaped on to her large plate before disappearing to give them all some privacy

"Unfortunately no" Dean continued "Apparently it's broken beyond repair"

"So does that mean the world is full of monsters now?"

Sam looked down at the ground for a moment and then back up at them and said, "Yes"

"Well that really sucks" Jeremy exclaimed clapping a hand to his forehead

"Yes it does" Dean agreed

"Is that why you flew us out of the country? To protect us from them?" Mattie finally spoke, her throat felt too dry, she took a sip of orange juice. It was so sweet.

"Yes and No" Sam sighed "We told you all a long time ago about how cupids shot us and made us fall in love. Well the reason why is because of all of this. It was prophesized that you kids would end up having a big hand in this battle"

The room fell completely silent until the only thing that could be heard was John's obnoxious crunching noises.

"So we're going to fight?" John asked swallowing the huge chunk of food in his mouth.

"Not if we can help it" Dean nodded his head slowly, determinedly

"We're assembling forces right now so we can take care of this" Rissy said firmly

"But in the meantime you get to enjoy a nice little vacation here in Costa Rica" Bela added "I have to say I'm a bit jealous"

There was a sadness behind her mother's eyes and cheerful words that stabbed Mattie right in the heart. It was in that moment that she realized that the worst was yet to come. That battle was imminent.

"You aren't staying with us?" Kate asked worriedly

"Bobby and Jody are going to stay with you kids now while we get some things in order, but we'll be back soon" Sam said as soothingly as possible

"And my mom and dad?" Lucy asked

"They'll be here as soon as possible"

"When are you leaving?" Jeremy sighed

"This afternoon" Sam answered

"How long will we be here?"

"Until everything blows over. You'll be fine. Don't worry"

The afternoon came to soon; the goodbyes were too short, the unicorns that took them away too fast. Surena wrapped an arm around Jeremy and Mattie's shoulders and heaved a happy sigh.

"They will be back soon, don't worry"

"Can we meet the princess now?" Kate asked hopefully, awestruck by the unicorn queen.

"Angelina is in the middle of a very important training right now but I am sure she can take some time off to see her friends"

"Training for what?" Mattie asked.

"To be a princess of course. Being a princess is a very important responsibility and must be done right, especially a princess with such special powers."

"Can she fly too?" Kate jumped in delight. Her question floated into the air and loomed over them awkwardly. Angelina's wings, or lack there of, was never to be mentioned to anyone, least of all to Surena.

"No. No Angelina cannot fly. She does not have wings"


	12. Chapter 12

Dean was so quiet on the way back to the airport that Bela had to remind herself twice that they weren't having a fight. He just stared out of his window distractedly. She reached over and dropped one of her hands on top of his folded ones resting in his lap and gave them a gentle squeeze. He turned to her and gave her a little smile. His "I'm unhappy but I'm trying to put on a brave face for you" smile. She hated it but she could respect it, sometimes it was better to smile and keep it moving rather than talk about what was wrong. It wasn't Rissy's "healthy" approach to things but then again she and Dean weren't Sam and Rissy. Still, Bela couldn't help but to ask him

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm okay. I just hate leaving them like that you know? I feel like I hardly see them anymore"

"We'll be back soon enough, they won't even miss us I'm sure" She gave his hands a reaffirming pat

"I just have this feeling. I hate leaving them. I don't know"

"Do you think something bad will happen to them?"

"Is it too far fetched?" He raised a corner of his mouth grimly

"No. But they're pretty well hidden where they are"

"Yeah I know" He sighed

"They'll be fine Dean"

"Yeah. Yeah I know" He nodded and leaned over to kiss her.

They'll be alright. They're safe. They'll be okay.

But despite her reassurances, Dean had remained silent for the rest of the trip, only speaking to ask if she was ready and to "come on". When they got back to the house Sam called the hunters to tell them that they were back in the states and would meet up first thing in the morning. Tomorrow would be another long day. Dean took her hand and said goodnight to everyone before leading her into their bedroom and shutting the door behind them.

"Goodnight sweetie" Bela gave him a brief kiss on the lips and started to walk away but he caught her arm and pulled her back to him and began kissing her face and neck. His hands moved quickly unbuttoning her blouse and pushing it off of her shoulders while his mouth devoured hers with a hungry need and desperate urgency. Bela didn't hesitate to reciprocate his feelings, unbuckling the belt from his jeans and tearing it free from the loops so she could toss it to the floor where it would later be joined by everything else they had been wearing that day. The bed was only a few feet from where they stood; he lifted her up anyway and dropped the both of them on top of it, clawing at his shirt so that he could rip it off. She took the opportunity to remove her pants and in an instant he was back on her. Bela pushed off of the bed to roll them over so that she was on top, she could see the wear and tear of the past few weeks etched into tired lines all over his face. They weren't going to talk about it, the fear, the seemingly hopelessness of their situation, the fact that deep down they knew that their children were going to bear the heavy burden that destiny had bestowed on them no matter what kind of army they put together. Bela wasn't going to even try to talk about it; verbal communication was never her strong suit but this, what they were doing now, was more soothing and healing than an hour of crying over something they couldn't change. He gripped onto the top of her thighs and moaned softly. Sometimes afterwards, they would roll over and go to sleep without a word, but that was always when they had been fighting before, other times they would kiss and talk and laugh together about whatever lighthearted random nonsense would pop into their heads. Tonight they would lay in each other's arms all night and not say a word, only communicating through soft caresses and an occasional kiss on the hand of forehead. Tonight they would do more sharing than they had done in years.

* * *

"Angelina! Over here!" They called when they spotted her across the field. Mattie was surprised when her friend, who had been standing perfectly still with her eyes closed, didn't run over to them for a big hug.

"Maybe she can't hear us" John frowned

"She can hear you" Cas said appearing suddenly beside them causing Lucy and Kate to gasp in surprise

"Angelina has to remain very calm and focused when she's training. When she loses focus her powers become too unpredictable"

"What do you mean?" Mattie asked looking at her friend who was still standing as still as a statue

"The last time she lost control, there were two hurricanes and a small tornado that stuck the colony over the course of four hours"

"Wow" Lucy gasped

"Yes, my daughter was unfortunately too free with all of her emotions, she is learning to control them now responsibly" Surena beamed proudly "When you're a princess you must learn to put your people's needs ahead of your own emotions for the good of all"

"That sucks" Danny scoffed "Can we go see her now?"

"Of course you may." Surena raised her arm and waved "Angelina practice is over for today! You can meet your friends now!"

Angelina's eyes shot open; they were a bright electric blue, she was happy to see them. She began to run towards them so they all ran to meet her halfway.

"You're back! I missed you all so" She laughed scooping them all in tight for a group hug.

"And you two beautiful girls must be the cousins that I've heard so much about" Angelina smiled turning her attention to Lucy and Kate

"Yes we are, I'm Lucy and this is my little sister Kate" She smiled and held out a hand to shake but Angelina just scooped her into her arms in a warm embrace.

"We don't shake hands here friends, we are all family"

Kate stood and stared at the princess in awe "Wow, you're so pretty. Your eyes are so blue"

"Normally they are brown. They change sometimes when I'm happy"

"Or sad, or angry, or excited" John added "Or-"

"We get the point." Jeremy said nudging his little brother with his elbow

"Very well, who wants to go play by the river?" Angelina flicked her eyebrows enthusiastically

"Or Crystal Falls?" Mattie asked hopefully.

"Is that a waterfall? Is it safe?" Lucy frowned taking Kate's hand in hers

"Perfectly safe friends, I'll show you to the place tomorrow. It is really so beautiful"

* * *

"It's already all over the place" Jim grumbled as he threw the paper down on the table in front of them.

"People gone missing, strange occurrences all across the country, people saying they're seeing things. Strange things"

"Me and Henry just took down a nest of vamps over in New Orleans about a week ago, two days later there was another nest moved in down the road from the last" Martin sighed jabbing his thumb over his shoulder at Henry

"How you boys end up ending the world ever couple years is far beyond me but to tell you the truth I'm getting pretty tired of cleaning up your messes in the aftermath" Jim said accusingly

"Well hopefully this will be the last time" Dean huffed pouring himself a glass of bourbon

"So what are we going to do? Kill every monster that busts out?"

"That's the plan. Problem is that we don't know what every monster is or how to kill them so" Sam frowned "Last thing we faced that was released from purgatory ended up being the leviathan."

"And those were some evil sons of bitches" Dean added

"We need to know what we're up against and how to kill it and we need your help" Sam continued

"Got a friend named Grace, best damn researcher this world over." Henry offered, "If there's anyone in the world that could help us figure out what's going on it'd be her. The stuff she knows, it ain't human."

"Is she?" Dean asked

"Is she what?"

"Human"

Henry and Martin traded soulful look "I'll take you to her, you can ask her yourself"

* * *

Angelina twirled around to show everyone her brand new bikini. Two purple oversized seashells tied together with some type of gold rope on the top and a small purple bottom laced with gold thread.

"Wow Angelina you look like a model with that on, really you do!" Mattie squealed happily. Her inner girl was brought out every time she spent more than an hour with Angelina, squirming and screaming like a hyperactive schoolgirl.

"Oh you really like it? Do you? Nina's mom made it" She clapped nodding her head to her other pretty unicorn friend. Why did all of these unicorn girls look like bleeding models? God what he would do for a bloody fag right now.

"Are you kidding I love it. Is this your first yeah?"

"Yes it's my very first"

"I remember my first bikini, do you remember Dan?" She asked turning to him with a gigantic toothy smile.

"Yes I rememb-"

"My mum got it for me" She continued to Angelina without letting him finish "I remember I was eight years old and my friend Kristin was having a pool party at her place. Do you remember that party Dan?"

"Yeah I-"

"And everyone was going to be wearing bikinis, well not everyone, but Kristin was going to wear one and I couldn't very well let that slag look cuter than me at the party. Anyway I asked for one and my mum and I started looking through these fashion magazines. Dad comes home and nearly had a fit! Do you remember that Dan? How mad dad was?"

"Yeah he w-"

"He was so mad, raving really, wasn't he raving Da-"

"Are you going to let me answer one of your bloody questions or what?" He snapped. Angelina looked at him in mild shock. He never snapped like that. Damn, he didn't mean it; he just had such a bad headache is all.

"Danny, are you okay?" She asked concernedly

"Don't mind him, he's quit smoking you know so he's cranky and all that right now" Mattie waved her hand at him dismissively

"You quit smoking? That's so good!" Angelina grabbed him and gave him a long hug. Her body pressed against him, her skin as smooth as the flower petals she had weaved into the flower crown on her head.

"Yes and now he's a bit of a crab sometimes but he's going to be just fine, aren't you Dan?"

"Yes. I'll be just fine" He said placing a hesitant hand on Angelina's back, she had hugged him a thousand times but this time it didn't feel right. He didn't know where to touch her, he didn't know how long he was supposed to hold her, or if he should pull away first. Luckily she broke the embrace before he did. Was she blushing? Time seemed to move in slow motion as she backed away from him slowly and pushed a piece of hair that had been flying in the misty wind from the waterfall and tucked it behind her ear.

"Anyway" Mattie said snapping them both back into real time "My dad had a fit, talking about it was inappropriate for a girl my age to be wearing something so revealing and my mum was like 'What Dean? What has she got to reveal? She's only eight years old' and he was like 'that's the bloody point isn't it Bela. She's eight years old what in bloody hell does she need to be prancing around in some flimsy bikini for' and they're going back and forth until finally they agree that I can get my first bikini when I was a bit older. I think it was thirteen. Anyway I spend the next day and a half sulking because the party was tomorrow, not talking to anyone, feeling just so awful, and I go to bed that night and flop myself down onto my pillow ready to cry my bleeding eyes out and what do I find under my pillow but a little bikini with a note on it saying 'Don't tell your father'. Good old mum. I was so happy. Of course when my dad popped by Kristen's just to see that I was having a good time and not too put out by not getting my bikini he saw me wearing it. That night my mum and dad really had it out. Hardly worth it now was it Dan?"

"No I don't think that it-"

"Anyway that's my story" Mattie cut him off with a clap

"Alright that's it" Danny growled and grabbed her waist pulling her down into the water under the waterfall. She screamed happily and splashed his face with water.

Jeremy cannonballed next to them in the water "Who wants to play chicken?"

"I want Nina on my team" John laughed scooping her off of the ground and carrying her into the water

"What do you say Angie? Want to be on my team?" Danny asked her quickly with an unexpected burst of anxiety.

"Sure" She smiled sweetly wading into the water

"I want Kate on my team" Jeremy grabbed his little cousin by her waist and placed her on his shoulders

"Lucy? Shall we show them how it's done?" Mattie reached a hand out for her cousin who took it lovingly

Angelina rested her hands on Danny's hair after she climbed on his shoulders "Danny?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't drop me okay?"

"I wouldn't in a million years" He laughed "And Angie?"

"Yes?"

"Let's win this"


	13. Chapter 13

Grace's house looked a lot like a library, which was appropriate because Grace looked a lot like a librarian, she had brown hair that fell down to about shoulder length and a small pale face that made her look like she couldn't be over twenty years old. She looked up at them with crystal blue eyes through black square framed glasses held safely in place by a beaded gold chain that dangled loosely around her head.

"Gracey, I'd like you to meet some friends of mine" Henry began "This one here is Jim, these two are Moe and Martin. (No relation)" He said that last part as an aside as though there would be confusion as to whether the men were related simply because their first names started with the same letter. "This gorgeous woman to my right is Rissy" He gave Rissy a little wink and Sam gave him a small scowl in return "That's Bela, and these two handsome sons of bitches are Dean and Sam"

"Charmed" Grace said as politely as a young girl being introduced to her parent's friends for the first time, but there was an authority in her voice, an importance, that made Bela feel like she was much older and much more important than she came off.

"Grace, Henry here told me that you might be able to help us, you see-" Dean started to explain but was silenced by her hand raised delicately in the air

"I know Dean, purgatory was opened and now all of the monsters from within it have been released. You probably would like some information on what exactly you're up against and how to destroy them?" She had a warm smile on her face while she spoke, probably to soothe away any intimidation from her impressive perceptiveness. "Yes, I'll help you"

"Really?" Sam's eyes twitched into a squint briefly "Why?"

"Because you're going to need help saving the world aren't you?" She explained innocently "And I can help you"

"You know what's in there? Everything?" Martin asked skeptically

"Yes"

"How?" Rissy raised an eyebrow "I mean, I don't want to sound doubtful but how do you know everything?"

"Because" Grace said removing the glasses from her eyes "I know my history and all of those creatures are ancient"

"Do you?" Dean pressed, "No offense but you don't look like you could be more than nineteen years old"

"Thank you" She nodded "But I am much older than nineteen"

"How much older?"

"Millennia older, Dean"

"So I take it that you're not human" He smiled nervously "So what are you?"

"I am the muse of history, daughter of Zeus, in Greek mythology I am referred to as Clio. I see that you're confused; yes Zeus is real as are all of the others. From this point on you should assume that all creatures of myth and legend are real."

"Your name is Clio?" Henry frowned

"No. My name is Grace" She smiled placing the glasses carefully back on her face

"Okay Grace fair enough" Dean said "I'm happy to have you on our side but something's telling me that you're not in this just out of the goodness of your heart"

"Actually I am" She said firmly "Now if there are no further questions about my motives, how about we discuss our adversaries"

"Who are we up against?" Sam ventured first

"Everyone, all of them. That means Norse gods, Greek gods, Biblical creatures, and all those in between. Also I just want to inform you that just in case you thought that this was only affecting the United States you're wrong. There are threats all across the globe"

"Fan-freaking-tastic" Dean groaned

"No, it's terrible" Grace corrected, "Our chances at victory are slim to none with our small numbers. Fortunately for you, there are creatures out there like the ones who escaped purgatory who are on our side"

"Really? Where?"

"That I don't know, but they're out there"

"Well that's helpful" Dean rolled his eyes

"Yes, it is" She smiled "All we have to do is locate the rebels and join forces. This is very good news"

"Alright then, let's go find the rebel alliance and blow up the death star" He flicked his eyebrows up sarcastically. Bela rolled her eyes; she had married a dork.

* * *

"Hi dad?" Danny said into the phone

"_Hey, I need to talk to everyone. Where are your sister and cousins?"_

"Right here. I'll put you on speaker. Okay, you're on"

"_Alright everyone listen up, it turns out that those things from purgatory aren't only in the United States, they're all over so I need you to pay very close attention to me"_

"We're all ears dad"

"_I need you to make sure that you stay within the confines of the colony. I don't want you to leave for any reason. It isn't safe"_

"Does that mean that we can't go to the waterfalls anymore uncle Dean?" Kate pouted

"_Are the waterfalls within the colony?"_

"Yes" Angelina answered for her

"_Then it's okay, just be careful and keep a watchful eye"_

"What about the beach? We went to the beach today and I picked out-"

"_Kate, is the beach within the colony?"_

"No" Angelina frowned

"_Then no. Only stuff on the inside, Angelina will tell you what that includes. We'll be in touch frequently, we just need to finish up a few things before we head over"_

"And my mom and dad?" Lucy asked

"_They're flying over with us very soon. In the meantime, Lucy is in charge while we're gone, listen to Cas and Surena, I just called them to tell them everything about our situation so they know, and be safe"_

"Yes dad"

"Yes uncle Dean"

"_Okay. We all love you. Talk to you soon"_

"Love you too, bye" Danny closed his cell phone and looked at his family

"I have a bad feeling about this" John shifted nervously where he stood

"It's fine" Lucy reassured "They'll be back before we know it and everything will be okay. We just need to stay inside the colony. It's safe in here. Right Angelina?"

"Yes, perfectly safe" She nodded. They all stood around just looking at each other for a few seconds.

"Anyway I must go to my training" Angelina said finally "You should go back to my palace, they're serving lunch now. Very delicious"

* * *

Angelina wasn't at breakfast the next day; she had gone to training first thing in the morning and would be busy throughout the day. Surena ate with them instead.

"Your castle is so pretty" Kate smiled at the queen

"Yes it is! Thank you very much. One day I will pass it down to my Angelina when she becomes the queen"

"Is she going to marry a prince?" Kate asked excitedly. Danny felt a small pang of something inside of him. Jealousy?

"Oh no she doesn't have to marry a prince my dear" Surena shook her head "She just needs to marry someone who will benefit our people"

"How do you mean?" Mattie asked spreading banana jam on a piece of toast

"I mean someone with wings." She said matter-of-factly

"How is she going to do that? The last time I checked there weren't really many winged creatures out there." John laughed incredulously

"Ah yes but they are out there, she will do what is right when the time comes, you'll see. My daughter will someday make our dreams come true. Then she will get married and then she will have a baby just like I did"

"What if she likes someone else? Someone without wings?" Danny asked pushing a piece of strawberry around his plate with his fork. Cas appeared before Surena could answer.

"Good morning" He said stiffly to the rest of them before turning to his wife

"I need to speak with you"

"Excuse me children." She said quickly exiting the room with her husband.

"Jeez that's a lot of pressure on Angelina" Jeremy sighed sympathetically "How many creatures actually fly?"

"Well there are birds, and bees and-" Lucy began

"I know that Luce, I mean how many that can mate with a unicorn"

"Well you got me there"

* * *

Esmeralda slipped her phone into her back pocket and grabbed a bag from underneath her bed. Jeremy had just called her and told her that he was going to be away for a while. She didn't have a while. She didn't have another day. Downstairs she could hear her grandmother screaming at the top of her lungs.

"I'm sick and tired of you taking advantage of me!" She screeched, "This is my house and these are my rules"

"Calm down abuela" Marie, Esmeralda's brother-in-law was yelling back at her "Stop screaming all the time"

"Abuela he didn't mean to break the car, we should be happy he survived the accident" Paula, Esmeralda's sister cried

"He stole it! Ladrón!" There was a sound of crashing pans downstairs. Esmeralda packed her bags faster

"I'm not a thief! I just borrowed it, I asked you for it don't you remember? Maybe you're too old to remember"

Esmeralda rolled her eyes, what a jerk. She tip toed into her Paula and Mario's room and dug though the top dresser drawer. She found a large wad of cash, goodness knows where on Earth Mario had gotten it from, and she didn't want to know. All she wanted was to be far away from here. Away from the fighting, away from her sister's jealous wrath, and her brother-in-law's predatory eyes, she wanted to be away from Jason Habernathy and the popular kids sexual advances and retaliations after she rejected them. If Costa Rica was were sanctuary was, then Costa Rica was where she would go. Jeremy would be happy when he saw her; he would take her in for sure. She climbed out of her window and dropped herself to the ground like she had done so many times when she would sneak into the woods with Jeremy. She didn't know where he was, only that he had landed in San José. She would call him from the airport and then he could meet her. It couldn't be simpler than that.

"Airport please" She told the cab driver that pulled to the side of the road next to her after she climbed inside

"Airport? How old are you kid? Fifteen? Sixteen?"

"I'm meeting family there" She smiled

"Whatever you say kid" He grumbled and pulled off into the night.


	14. Chapter 14

The entire day was fantastic; Danny could remember when the last time was that he had so much fun. Angelina threw her arms around his neck from behind him and jumped, he hooked his arms under her legs and held her securely to his back.

"It's funny, you're the unicorn and yet here I am giving you a ride"

"Yes I suppose it is." She laughed; it sounded like a wedding bell, so clean and pure and fun. It made him laugh too.

"How about we play a game." John suggested looping a lazy arm around Angelina's friend Isabel's shoulders "Who's up for truth or dare?"

"I don't know about that one" Mattie laughed "Last time Danny played that game he started smoking like a chimney"

"If I remember correctly, you were smoking with me" He smirked

"What is truth or dare?" Isabel asked confusedly

"Come and sit" Jeremy ordered as he dropped himself on the soft-carpeted floor of the gigantic playroom. When they had formed a circle in the center of the room Jeremy spoke again.

"The rules are as follows, someone asks someone else in the group 'truth or dare' and then that person has to choose whichever one they want. If you choose dare then the person asking has to think of something daring for you to do and you do it. If the person chooses truth than the person asking has to ask that person a question and the person answering has to tell the truth. Here I'll demonstrate, Mattie, truth or dare?"

"Dare, obviously"

"I dare you to call up your dad and ask him for an ice cream cone" He grinned

"Oh come on Jude, you can't be serious" She groaned

"It's a dare" He shrugged

"I hate you" She glared at him as she flipped her cellphone open

"Put him on speaker" Jeremy commanded

"_Hello? Mattie?"_

"Hi daddy"

"_Hi. Sweetheart, is there something wrong?"_

"No I just wanted to ask you a question"

"_What?"_

"Is it okay if I have an ice cream cone?" She said glowering at Jeremy who was turning red in the face from his silent laughter

"_What?"_

"Can I please have some ice cream?"

"_Why are you asking me?"_

"I didn't know whom else to ask" She frowned into the phone

"_Are you kidding me right now?"_

"Never mind daddy, I just saw Bobby walk by, I'll ask him instead. I love you so much, talk to you later, goodbye!" She rambled out and closed her phone and looked around the room

"Okay my turn, I choose Lucy"

"Truth" Lucy laughed "Always and forever truth"

"Okay Lucy, what is the most rebellious thing you've ever done?"

"Oh that's an easy one" She gave a sly grin "This one time my mom told me that I wasn't allowed to go to this concert I wanted to see because it was a school night and I had finals in the morning"

"Wow Lucy did you sneak out?" Jeremy leaned forward expectantly

"What? No. I asked my dad instead and he said I could go" She scoffed

"How is that rebellious?" He asked with a straight face

"I went behind her back to get my way, that's manipulative. I felt so horrible afterwards because they got into a fight over it, I never did something like that again"

"Wow" Mattie mouthed and they all laughed

The game went on like that for a long time, Kate confessed to having a crush on her math teacher, Isabel kissed Danny on the cheek for her dare because she was too shy to kiss his lips, John ate an entire jar of pickles in under two minutes, Danny confessed to craving cigarettes, Nina was dared to go find some cigarettes but she declined and confessed that she still slept with her favorite teddy bear at night, Jeremy confessed to his kiss with Esmeralda, and then it was Angelina's turn.

"Ok Angelina" Jeremy smirked "Truth or Dare?"

"Truth"

"Okay, who is the first person you've ever liked romantically?"

She blushed and looked straight ahead, her eyes kept flicking towards Danny. Or was he imagining it?

"I think I'd rather take a dare." She giggled nervously

"Aw come on Angie, we're all family here. Promise we won't tell" Mattie winked

"I don't think I want to do that one" She was looking directly at Danny now, it was unmistakable

"Is it someone we know?" John squinted. She blushed again.

"Okay let's just do the dare" Jeremy said quickly "Angelina, I dare you to kiss your crush if he's in this room"

"Oh Jude don't be a dick" Danny snarled

"I'm just joking Angie" Jeremy laughed, "You don't have to"

But the room fell silent. She was still staring at Danny.

"Are you alright Angie?" He asked her

"I'm fine." She said springing up "I don't like this stupid game. I'm going to bed now"

"Angie wait!" They called after her as she stormed away

* * *

Danny strode forward two steps at a time until he had caught up with Angelina.

"Angie wait" He said catching her arm in his hand to hold her in place. She turned to face him with mild irritation.

"Yes Danny?" Her eyes bursting into an electric blue

"What happened back there?"

"Nothing happened. I'm very tired. Please release my arm"

He let go of her and let his arm fall limply at his side

"Why did you leave like that?"

"I told you, I'm tired and I would like to get some rest" She huffed

"That's a little convenient isn't it?" He challenged "Funny time to be suddenly tired"

"I don't have to take this from you" She growled and tried to walk away again but his hand shot out before her and slammed against the wall locking her in and blocking her path.

"Why are you mad at me? Is this about Jude? He was only joking Ange"

"Move out of my way" She snarled giving his arm a hard shove, it didn't budge

"Will you hold on a minute?" He demanded

"What do you want from me?" She shouted at him trying to duck below his arm

"To talk to you. Do you like me? Because I like you too if that's what this is about" His voice dropped an octave bending his elbow slightly to block her again

"It can't happen do you understand? You and I can't happen" Her eyes were blazing with pain and fury

"Why not?" Danny asked softly

"Because you're my cousin" She sighed and nodded

"I am not your cousin" He huffed irritably

"Get away from me!" She shouted giving him a quick jab in the ribs and escaping underneath his arm

"What are you so afraid of?" Danny demanded clutching his hurt side tightly "I know that you care about me. I can see it in your eyes" He reached out and spun her around again "You can't hide how you feel about me anymore than I can about you. I see the way you look at me"

"Of course I care about you Danny, we grew up together" Angelina ran a hand through her hair and crossed her arms across her chest

"No that's not it, it's more than that" He shook his head

"Who are you trying to convince Dan? Listen to me, you're no good for me" She glowered before turning on her heel and walking again. He bound after her and stood in her way until they were face to face

"No good for… What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means what it means"

"You want me to leave you alone princess?"

"Don't call me that"

"That's what you are isn't it? Princess Angelina, what am I to you, right? You being royalty and all"

"Does this kind of reverse psychology work on all of your girls back home?" She raised her chin challengingly

"What works on you your highness? I don't have any money in my pockets or royal blood pumping through my veins or bloody wings or whatever-" He was silenced by a sharp slap across his face

Angelina's face was beet red "How dare you criticize me? You think you're better than me Dan? You think you can judge me and look down on me because I was born into royalty? Who are you? You're an immature promiscuous teenager pumping cancer into your lungs. Yes you're really cool Daniel; I'm so terribly impressed by you." Angry tears welled up inside of her eyes, a loud crack of thunder roared outside.

Dan held a hand to his cheek and looked at small trace of blood on his fingertips.

"You hit me" He stared at her in shock

She gulped and shifted uncomfortably before standing stiff determined to stand her ground. "I told you to leave me alone"

He took a step towards her; she took one back "Get back" She commanded

"I think I deserve an apology. Don't you Ange?" He smirked darkly

"Danny I said back up" She glared as her back pressed against the wall behind her. He crept closer until they were inches apart.

"Don't you understand English?" Angelina whispered, she could feel his breath on her lips

"I'm waiting for my apology." He said in a low voice, his mouth curved up menacingly

"Don't hold your breath" She exhaled lightly trying to keep from trembling. She raised her hands to his chest to push him away but he grabbed her by the wrists and pulled her closer. In an instant she raised her head to his crushing her mouth against his lips, he ran a hand through her hair and pulled her head closer to deepen the kiss and they crashed backwards into the wall. She ripped at his shirt until he bent over slightly and let her rake it over his head and drop it next to her. They shuffled from the hallway into one of the spare bedrooms with their lips never parting for more than a few seconds and fell to the floor. Danny rolled on top of her and tugged the robe over her head and threw it into a corner before landing on top of her again. She tugged at his belt, her fingers fumbling hastily over the buckle unsure of how to undo it. His fingers slipped between hers and unfastened the belt for her. Angelina gasped as his mouth found her neck and she pushed his jeans down his thighs. He yanked her panties down and kissed her stomach. She froze suddenly feeling very naked. Danny paused and looked her in the eyes.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" He panted.

She took a deep gulp and nodded yes.

"Tell me if you want to stop okay?"

She nodded again and ran a hand over her head anxiously, he kissed her softly on the lips, much slower than he had before and she relaxed once again in his arms.

* * *

"Danny what on Earth happened to your face?" Jeremy flicked his eyebrows up at Danny as he sat down at the table in the dining hall. Danny reflexively placed a hand on his swollen cheek; it had turned a deep gray lavender color since last night

"None of your business" Danny said through a mouthful of what he can only assume was some kind of mashed fruit cereal

"Maybe we should ask Angelina instead." John giggled prodding his cousin's arm with his fingers

"Go ahead, she'll say the same thing because nothing happened" Danny grimaced as he swallowed the chunky slop in his mouth

"Looks like you got the bloody crap kicked out of you" Jeremy laughed

"Where's Mattie?" Danny asked just to change the subject

"Sleeping still I suppose" he shrugged

"Well she better hurry up, wouldn't want her to miss breakfast, or whatever the hell this is" He grumbled tossing his spoon into his bowl with disgust

"It's not so bad if you close your eyes" John said closing his eyes to demonstrate

"I'm filing that under things I never want to hear about food" Danny chuckled and pushed his bowl a few inches away.

"What the hell happened to your face?" Mattie appeared seemingly out of nowhere dropping her bowl onto the table with a loud thump

"Angelina beat the crap out of him"

"She did not." Danny barked defensively

"Angie did that to you?" She gasped

"No Matt-"

"Did too"

"Shut up Jude"

"Why did she hit you?"

"She didn't hit me Mattie really"

"Then how did you get that welt on the side of your face" She eyed him suspiciously

"Back hand?" John laughed

"Nah I'm betting on open palm" Jeremy shook his head

"Shut up!"

"Want me to kick her ass?" Mattie raised an eyebrow

"I think she's a bit out of your league Matt" Jeremy scoffed

"Alright that's it" Danny banged his hand on the table "Jude and John shut up, Mattie sit down"

"No need to get defensive darling" Mattie stifled a laugh as she sunk down into her chair "I know tons of manly men who have gotten the living daylights beaten out of them by girls"

"Yeah Dan, no need to overcompensate" Jeremy shrugged

"We won't tell anyone. Promise" John grinned widely

"Assholes" Danny muttered as he pushed himself away from the table

"Don't go back Danny! You deserve better!" Jeremy yelled after him and they all burst into laughter. He could hear traces of their laughter until he reached the top of the long crystal stairwell. He loved her all these years, how could he have not seen it before? All this time he spent away from her thinking about her all the time, counting down the days to see her again. Danny drifted down the hall on cloud nine, this was it, so this is what love felt like.

He knocked twice on Angelina's bedroom door before it opened a crack; he pushed it gently and walked inside. Angelina walked to the other end of room and stopped in front of the mirror and began brushing her hair.

"Missed you at breakfast" He smiled moving closer

"I wasn't hungry." She said softly as she placed the brush down on a stool in front of her and combed her fingers through her hair

"Feeling okay?"

"Fine"

"I was thinking maybe we can go down to the river again today"

"I can't. I promised Selena that I would go to the Crystal Waterfalls with her today"

He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin lightly on her collarbone

"That's okay, that sounds nicer anyways, we can sit in that cave behind the water and-"

She moved from his embrace and started braiding her hair

"Is there something wrong?" He frowned

"No" She said quickly averting her eyes from his discerning gaze

"Is this about last night?" He felt anxiety welling up in his stomach in anticipation for her answer

"A part of me wants to say no" She grimaced

"Which part?"

"The cowardly one" Angelina admit dragging her feet to the edge of her bed and sunk down on top of it

"Are you feeling regret? Because I'm not Angie, I know it's scary right now but if you're feeling regret because you think that last night meant nothing or that I don't care about you, you're wrong"

"That's not it Danny. I know you care about me, but I was serious about what I said yesterday, you and I can't be together"

Her words hit him like a fist to the gut. "Why not? We obviously care for each other, you're the only girl I've ever felt this way about Ange"

"You're only a child Danny" She sighed

"I'm older than you" He shook his head confusedly

"I'm only a child too"

"So? Does that mean that we aren't allowed to be in love?"

"We aren't in love Dan, and even if we were that doesn't mean that we should do this. We don't even live in the same country"

"I'm not asking you to marry me Angelina" He knelt in front of her and held her hands

"I know you aren't thinking that far into the future but I am because I have to. I don't have only myself to think of, I have my entire colony to consider and I can't be foolish with my heart"

"I won't hurt you Angie, just give me a chance, who knows where this thing will go"

She pulled her hands from him slowly "I do. We can still be friends but nothing more"

"Don't do this" He ran a hand through his hair rising to his feet again

"I'm sorry" Angelina searched his eyes for understanding and perhaps some sympathy. He wasn't going to let her have it.

"Yeah. Me too" Daniel dropped his hand to his side and strode out of the room shutting the door lightly behind him.

* * *

The next few days were a blur. Long days filled with exploring waterfalls and playing at the river with his sister and cousins occupied his time but not his mind, Angelina acted like nothing happened between them to the point where even his family abandoned their suspicions of a possible relationship. Being around her all day was hard, even harder if her skin brushed against his when they crossed paths, or when she bit her bottom lip when she thought really hard about something the same way she bit her lip when her fingers clung onto his arms that one night. The days were hard, but the sleepless nights were impossible as Danny sat in his windowsill, before passing out from exhaustion, with his eyes searching the sky for even a small drizzle of rain that would never come.

Esmeralda's entire body ached from sleeping in chairs in the terminals; she had lived in the airport for days waiting for a flight available to Costa Rica without a reservation. Luckily she knew that there wasn't going to be any family looking for her for a while, not until the school called about her absence, which wouldn't happen just yet, she had left on a Friday. She had called Jeremy earlier that morning just as she promised.

"Jude"

"_Hey Em. I miss you so much. How are you holding up?"_

"Better now"

"_How's our little Meekus Winchester?"_

"Fuego-Winchester" She corrected with a smile, it was so nice to hear his voice, she made the right choice by running away

"_That's right, Fuego-Winchester"_ She heard him laughing

"I'm sure he's fine"

"_You haven't checked on him? I'm surprised"_

"Jude, where exactly did you say that you were staying in Costa Rica?"

"_Some remote place. It's beautiful Em, like no place you've ever seen. One day I'll take you"_

"Where is it though? Like, what is the exact location?"

"_Not really sure to be honest. It's pretty isolated, I don't think it has a name"_

"What is it near?"

"_Em, are you alright? You sound troubled. What's the matter?"_

"Nothing, I just miss you." She sighed

"_I know, I miss you too, I'd do anything to see you right now and have you with me"_

"Promise?"

"_I swear it with all of my heart"_

"Okay"

He had sworn with all of his heart that he would do anything to see her and she believed him. Now finally as she was informed that there was a seat for her on the next flight out she could tell him to meet her in San José and she could finally be free with him. His parents were nice, he told her all of the time how good they were to him and each other, they would accept her immediately when they saw how happy she made their son and then they could live as a family. A voice came onto the intercom alerting passengers that they were boarding the plane. She took a deep breath, this was it; this was the first day of her new life.


	15. Chapter 15

It was past midnight when they heard them coming. Dean and Bela were sleeping on the Martin's old couch when suddenly they heard a horrendous growl rip through the night and from their uncomfortable slumber. The hunters scrambled for weapons and checked salt lines. The sound of barking froze Bela to her core, they sounded almost identical to hellhounds, only bigger, more rabid.

"What the hell is that? A damn hellhound?" Martin shouted as they prepared themselves for battle, the hounds were closer now, they sounded as though they were right outside of the door. Bela caught a glimpse of one as it ran by a window. It was all black and enormous, not a hellhound, you can't see hellhounds.

"No I saw it" Bela shook her head rapidly and cocked the gun Sam had just thrown into her hands

"It sounds like a damn dog" Moe panted peering outside of one of the windows "You think these salt lines will hold'em-" There was a loud crash as the window broke and Moe was clamped in between the creature's massive jaws. Its burning red eyes the same color as the blood pouring out of its mouth.

"No!" Martin yelled firing round after round at the creature as two more burst through the destroyed window and charged.

"Run!" Jim commanded. They quickly obeyed. Bela looked over her shoulder just in time to see the first creature fall to the ground and another one take a still firing Martin into its massive jaws.

The third one took off after them and the second one soon followed, Sam and Dean turned back slightly every now and then to take a few shots at it but it was to no avail, the creatures bound towards them without the slightest hindrance. Henry fumbled with his keys and unlocked the doors, they all piled in. Luckily the car started on the first try and they peeled into the road with the creatures in hot pursuit. Jim and Rissy shot it through the open windows until they finally crumpled into the road with long pained yowls. In the driver's seat, Henry was sobbing.

"What the hell was that?" Dean demanded

"Padfoot" Jim answered solemnly

"Padfoot? Like Harry Potter Padfoot?" Rissy asked

"More like a hellhound" Jim shook his head

"If it was a hellhound how come we can see it?" Sam sighed seriously

"Ain't that kind of hellhound"

"How do you think they found us?" Bela asked

"Don't know they were looking, there have been attacks around here recently, we should've been more careful"

"We have to go find Gracey" Henry sniffled "We have to go find that army on our side"

"And I need to talk to Crowley" Dean grumbled

"You mean the demon Crowley?" Jim raised an eyebrow

"He's supposed to be helping us. Said he already set up an army"

"Are you saying that we're supposed to be teaming up with demons now?"

"We need all the help we can get" Sam said reluctantly

"Guess the world really is ending" Jim huffed. For the rest of the ride back to Grace's house they sat in silence, the only thing that could be heard was the slight hum of the engine as they drove and Henry's quiet sobbing over his fallen friends.

* * *

"Dad, please! She called from the airport already! She's here! I don't know, she ran away I guess, we can't just leave her there" Jeremy all but cried into the phone

"Oh my God thanks dad! Thanks so much! Okay! He's right here!" He grinned from ear to ear as he handed the phone to Castiel

"Sam? Yes I heard, he told me. I'll bring her here. Okay. Bye" Cas closed the phone and handed it back to Jeremy before vanishing.

"What the hell were you thinking boy?" Bobby spat

"I didn't invite her Bobby I swear! I just told her that I went to Costa Rica and she wanted to come, she surprised me"

"She followed you to Costa Rica?" Mattie scoffed "That's not stalker-y at all"

"Shut up you don't know her" Jeremy snapped

"You tell her Jude" Danny slapped an approving hand on his back "Doesn't she get that she's fit?"

"That's not what it is" He defended

"Guys lay off" Lucy frowned

"Tell that to Don Juan over here" Mattie winked

"Shut up!"

"I didn't know you had a girlfriend Jeremy" Angelina smiled

"It kind of just happened"

"Oh I don't know Jeremy, things like this don't just happen." She giggled

"Don't they though?" Danny asked her sharply. She blushed and turned her head away from him

"I don't like this at all" Bobby huffed "You don't have the luxury to get mixed up with some girl right now"

"She's not 'some girl'. Her name is Esmeralda and she's amazing." Jeremy snapped

"It wouldn't matter if her name was Queen Elizabeth boy, the point is she's in danger right now because she's following you around"

"I already told you that I didn't invite her here, what do you want me to do?"

"Let her stay here for a day or two and send her home son"

"I'm not going to do that okay?

"Well that's fine, I'll do it"

"What? Why?"

"Because you're fifteen and underage that's why and because I'm in charge of you when your parents are gone, when Jody gets back from dinner she'll tell you the same th-"

Suddenly they heard an alarm blaring. They all rushed to the window in the hallway and they saw them, the intruders slithered across the fields, they looked like gigantic bright yellow and black snakes but there was something eerily human about them. Then Mattie realized why, they had arms. Unicorns charged at the invaders, spearing them with their horns and stomping them on the ground.

"What the are those?" Kate shrieked

"Akamataa" Bobby said in shock "Those things are only supposed to exist in Japan"

A flash of lightning that lit up the sky and Angelina let out a blood-curdling scream as she saw one of the unicorns getting wrapped up in one of the snake's scaly bodies and dragged to the ground.

"Oh Antonio!" Nina cried next to her just as Surena barged through the door.

"Angelina the colony is under attack"

"Oh mama, they got Antonio!"

"Listen to me!" The queen demanded "You take our friends out of here right now. You know the way out so go"

"But mama! I should stay and help you!"

"Go now!" Surena yelled

Angelina's face transformed in an instant, she looked very much like she had when they saw her meditating on the first day.

"Follow me" She ordered the rest of them and began running down the hallway. She stopped in front of a large family portrait, Cas standing next to a large black unicorn with a smaller blue unicorn in the center of them. All of their faces staring off into space completely devoid of emotion. Angelina lifted the picture off of the wall and pushed the wall upwards revealing a large tunnel behind it. There was a loud crash as two of the creatures rushed towards them. Bobby pulled out his gun and fired, the bullet pierced through the creature's head and came out of the other end and it fell to the ground but by the time he changed his focus to the other one it was on him.

"AH!" He screamed in unison with the rest of them. A shot rang out and the creature fell on top of him. Dead. Danny and Jeremy yanked Bobby from underneath it and stood him up on his feet.

"We must hurry!" Angelina cried out, hastily pulling the wall back down behind them once they were all inside. There was a line of dim florescent on the ceiling along the path lighting their way as they ran together; Jeremy scooped a weeping Kate up into his arms and she clutched onto his neck, while Mattie led Bobby hand in hand as he tried to keep up with the rest of them.

"What about Jody?" Danny stopped suddenly in his tracks

"She'll catch up soon." Angelina said grabbing his hand and tugging him along

"How will she know how to find us?" Mattie yelled from behind them

"I'll give her a call when we get out of here"

The tunnel ended with another wall that Angelina had to lift, when they stepped outside they were in a densely wooded area.

"Where are we?" Lucy panted over Nina, Isabel, and Kate's sobbing

"We are not far, the shelter is about a mile from here" Angelina said leading the way.

Mattie tugged gently on Bobby's arm, he was getting heavy and heavier under her grasp.

"Bobby, are you feeling okay?" She asked turning around to face him. He was clutching his side hard with his free hand but it didn't do much to cover his wound or stop the blood from running over his hand.

"Bobby!" She shrieked and he collapsed to the ground

* * *

Jody walked through the ravaged halls of the palace, the snakes were dead but some unicorns had fallen too. Surena knelt down over the body of one of her people and cried. Jody placed a soothing hand on her shoulder but her insides felt all twisted up in knots, death is a tragedy that you never get used to, no matter how many times you see it. Her phone vibrated in her pocket and her heart stopped. Chills shot through her body sending shivers up her spine. She answered the call trying hard to swallow the bitter acid that had risen into her mouth.

"Bobby?"

"_Hey hon"_ He said softly through the phone

"Bobby, where are you? Is everyone okay?"

"_We're in the woods a few miles away from the palace"_ She heard him grunt in pain

"Bobby honey, are you alright?"

"_Yeah baby I just, I got injured while we were running. I'll be fine"._ There was something in his lingering in voice that worried her

"Bobby?"

"_I miss you so much baby. I love you so much"_

"I'm going to find you okay? Hold on. Will you hang in there for me?" Her question was met with a bone chilling silence.

"_Yeah baby I'll hold on for you. I'll hold on."_ He said finally, his voice was a whisper. She could hear him sniffling softly as a pair of warm tears rolled from her eyes down her face

"Okay. I'll find you soon"

"_I know"_

"I love you Bobby"

"_I love you too. Forever."_

"I'm coming. I'll be there soon"

"_I know." _

As silence fell a second time, Jody's eyes began to run freely, she felt a lump punch the back of her throat and squeeze her windpipe

"_Goodbye Jody"_

"Goodbye Bobby" She managed to squeak out. After the line went dead the phone dropped out of her hand and smashed to the ground, she followed soon after.


	16. Chapter 16

None of them knew the exact moment when Bobby had stopped breathing; all they knew is that after 10 minutes of CPR, there weren't going to be able to resuscitate him, no matter how much Mattie denied it. It took all of Jeremy's strength to remove her hysterical body from Bobby's lifeless one, throwing them both onto the ground where Kate sat crying, once her grip gave way. The eight children huddled around their dead guardian fraught with grief and hopelessness, what were they supposed to do now? They were all alone. Lucy was the first to make a move; she picked up the phone that Bobby had dropped during his failed attempt to reach Sam and Dean and flipped it open.

"What are you doing? That's his phone Lucy! Give it back to him!" Kate wailed frantically

"Kate listen to me, we need to call an adult okay? This isn't safe" Lucy said as calmly as possible

"But that's his phone Lucy! That's his phone." She sobbed as Danny dropped down next to her and held her head into his chest so she could cry.

"Hi dad? Is mom there? I need to talk to her. Mom? Mom something horrible happened" She choked out in between sobs "The palace was attacked. No I'm okay, we're okay but Bobby. Mom one of them got Bobby! No he's not okay. You can't. Because, mom because he didn't, he didn't make it. Jody isn't here; I think she's coming to find us. Angelina is going to bring us to a shelter. Mom? Mom! The battery is dying on this phone! What should I do?" Lucy shrieked

* * *

Jody drifted numbly around the palace grounds looking for Surena. She found her in the entrance on her way out.

"Surena, we have to go find the kids and Bobby. They're in trouble" Jody heard herself say, her mind wasn't processing her thoughts as her own, it was as though someone else had taken over her body and she was just along for the ride. Surena's face was emotionless and cold as she stared forward at the ruins of her land.

"They are going to the shelter, they will be fine. I need to find the survivors and help them to safety"

"I don't think they're okay" Jody's voice had broken off painfully and sharp in the middle of her sentence lowering her volume into a throaty whisper "Bobby said he was injured. He sounded" She trailed off in the end unable to say out loud what she already knew.

"Angelina will take them to the shelter" Surena said sharply moving across the fields and scanning with her eyes for survivors

"But Bobby and the kids might be-"

"I cannot think about that right now" Surena snapped suddenly at her and took off running towards the movement she had detected by the river. Jody followed.

"What do you mean you can't think about that right now? They could be in danger!"

"Everyone is in danger." Surena grunted as she hauled the fallen unicorn onto it's now human feet "I have people here in need of my care."

"You have enough people to take care of this while we're gone Surena, the children-"

"I do not have the luxury to hold their hands" Surena spat "I have responsibilities, I am a queen"

"You're a mother!" Jody screeched "Your daughter is out there right now alone with a group of teenagers in the middle of the forest! She's only fifteen! How do you expect her to handle this on her own?"

"I expect her to handle it the way she was trained"

"She's just a little girl Surena, my kids are out there too and they need me. I need to find them now"

"Do what you must" She said dismissively. Jody turned on her heel and drifted back towards the palace. Bobby's words of goodbye played in a loop in her head.

"He'll wait for me until I come." She said out loud to herself and tried to tune out the chilling thought creeping into her mind

_No he won't._

* * *

Dean paced back and forth in frustration in Grace's study in anticipation for Crowley's arrival. Sam dropped the match into the bowl completing the summoning ritual in a blast of red smoke.

"Evening boys" Crowley said casually from behind them

"Evening?" Dean asked incredulously

Crowley looked down at his watch "Well a little past but I'm sure you get the point"

"We just got ambushed Crowley" He spat

The demon raised an eyebrow as if to say an unspoken "and your point is?"

"We lost two of our men" Dean explained further in response to the gesture

"I'm failing to see where I come in in all of this"

"Where the hell were you?" He yelled

"Where was I?" Crowley squinted "I was busy building and training an army of demon soldiers to clean up this mess and save the world so I'm sorry that I couldn't stand around holding your hands every second of the day you incompetent morons! Monsters attacked you? How about you do your bloody job and kill them? Okay?" Crowley shouted back in a loud roar before disappearing

"Good talk" Dean said to the air

"Grace we need some information, anything that will help us find the other creatures fighting on our side" Sam said

"I'm sorry Sam, I can only see history"

"Well that's helpful" Dean scoffed

"Someone called for help?" Another voice said from behind them in a gush of wind

"Gabriel? Where have you been? We've been calling for weeks"

"I was honeymooning with the Misses, what could I do?" Gabriel smirked

"Oh I don't know, something along the lines of helping to save the world?" Dean snarled

"I'm here now aren't I?"

"Fine. Look we need you and Sala to-"

"Oh" Gabriel interrupted raising a hand in the air to silence him "No can do cupcake, Sala's officially in retirement when it comes to saving you two sorry asses" He said and scoping the room "and family" he added

"What? Why?" Dean gaped

"Why?" Gabriel tightened his lip "Do I need to remind you what happened the last time she decided to help you ass hats save the world? Or when she saved your brother? Or when she saved Bobby?"

"Okay we get it"

"Do you?" Gabriel snapped "Because I want to make it very clear, she's not getting involved this time"

"We just need help Gabriel" Sam sighed, "any kind we can get"

"Like where the other army is so we can join them." Dean said

"I don't know, they're pretty well hidden, last time I heard they were in Nicaragua but they're nomadic so they most likely won't be there anymore"

"Awesome" Dean exhaled deeply

"I do know someone who can help you though, a prophet who is writing this story probably as we speak"

"Who Chuck? No we already called him. He has no idea"

"That's because your story has already ended. This is all about your kids now if you haven't noticed already"

"What's his name?"

"Sonia Manners"

"It's a chick?" Dean cocked an eyebrow and Bela rolled her eyes

"Where is she?" She asked

"Not too far from here, I can take you-" Gabriel started but was interrupted by Dean's cellphone

"Hello?" He asked raising a finger in the air to pause the conversation

"_Dean it's Chessa, where are you? We need to talk"_ She was so loud on the other end of the line that her voice filled the silent room effortlessly

"Chess I can't right now, I'm in the middle of something, let me call you back"

"_Dean this is important"_

"What is it?"

"_I don't want to say it over the phone"_

"I really don't have time for this, just spit it out" Dean said losing patience

"_It's about the kids Dean"_

"What?" He froze. They all did.

"_The kids are in trouble. It's Bobby, Dean. Bobby's dead."_

* * *

Angelina was the first to speak again after the phone died, to tell them that it was getting darker and they needed to reach the shelter.

"We can't just leave him here" Jeremy said numbly

"We can't take him either" She said reluctantly

"Well what are we supposed to do?" Mattie sniffled "We can't leave him like this"

"In the books, dad and uncle Dean would always… You know" John said, voice raw from crying

"You want to burn him?" Mattie gasped

"No, I don't want to burn him! I just think that that's what our dads would do if they were here" He defended quickly

"We can't burn him!" Lucy shrieked

"We can't leave him here!"

"Okay enough!" Angelina snapped, "Listen to me my friends, we cannot stay here any longer"

"John's right" Danny said finally, still holding a whimpering Kate gently in his arms

"You want to burn Uncle Bobby?" Lucy gaped

"It's not burning, its cremating Lucy, our dads always do it so there has to be a reason why. It's the way hunters die. It's a proper send off" Danny set Kate on the ground and rose to his feet. They all watched him in stunned silence as he reached into Bobby's pocket and pulled out a lighter. It was soaked in blood. Mattie puked.

"No! No! Don't! You'll hurt him!" Kate wailed, "Don't hurt him!"

"Jeremy, take Kate out of here, you all should follow Angelina. I'll catch up." He ordered

"No Danny, I'm not leaving you out here alone" Lucy shook her head

"Just go, I'll be right there"

"I'm in charge and I said no!"

"Don't hurt him!" Kate screamed as Jeremy picked her up as if she were a toddler. It was easy for him; he was growing to be so tall, just like his father.

"Everyone turn away from Bobby" Angelina ordered, they turned their backs and a large ball of fire shot from the sky and landed behind them hard sending them all a few paces forward on impact.

"Oh no" Angelina said softly as fire whooshed and crackled behind them. They turned around. All of the trees and wildlife surrounding Bobby had gone up in flames.

"No!" Kate squealed

"Run!" Angelina yelled over her quickly leading the way through the trees in front of them

"Oh Bobby" Mattie croaked as Danny took her hand and dragged her along


	17. Chapter 17

The shelter wasn't much of a shelter; in fact it wasn't much of anything, but as far as beaten up rundown wooden shacks go, this one wasn't too bad. When they walked inside they found other a few others who had escaped from the colony.

"Ramon!" Angelina cried and threw her arms around her tall friend

"Oh Angelina! I was so worried about you. We have lost so many." He said into her hair

"Is it safe to return?" Nina asked him just as they heard a loud boom of an explosion behind them in the forest.

"Is that coming from the palace?" Ramon cried out as they all piled outside of the shelter for a better look. Thick dark clouds of smoke clouded their view. Angelina's fire was making its way towards them.

"Oh no! Oh no!" Angelina slapped her hands to her face in horror "Hurry! We must move!"

"But the shelter" Isabel tittered in panic

"This whole place is going to burn down if we don't get out of here" Danny yelled and hauled Mattie, who was doubled over and retching on the floor, under one of his arms.

"Princess Angelina, where do we go?" Ramon watched her with a horrified expression as the smoke began to creep towards them. Kate started coughing and in an instant Jeremy had his shirt off and tied around her face to filter the air.

"Princess! What do we do?" Ramon urged again

Angelina closed her eyes tight "I'll make it rain!"

"We don't have time for that" John coughed

"Angelina!" Danny yelled at her "Come on!"

"I can make it rain!" She shouted closing her eyes tighter

"Princess!" Isabel choked out

"We have to run!" Lucy screamed at them grabbing Kate and beckoning the rest of them with her hand

"I can make it rain" Angelina said softly and opened her eyes. Nothing happened. Danny grabbed her with his free hand and dragged her as he started to run.

* * *

Bela frowned at Dean as he stuffed their suitcases for the trip back down to Costa Rica. She was worried too but this wasn't the time to be irrational. The castle was under siege again and the kids were lost somewhere in the woods, now was the time to find the prophet so she could tell them the exact location of the children so they don't have to waste time searching when they got back down there. Dean, and others, however, were so consumed by grief over Bobby's death, that they weren't thinking logically. Hunters always seemed to shoot first and ask questions later. She took a deep breath and approached her husband slowly to tell him all of that as delicately as possible.

"Dean, I know you're upset but let's stop and talk about this for a moment yeah?"

"There's nothing to talk about Bela. The kids are alone and they need us. End of discussion"

"Gentle heart please" She said calmly placing a hand on his right before he yanked the zipper closed on her luggage bag "The children are our first priority of course"

Dean dropped her bag down on the floor and leaned the handle towards her.

"Which is why" She continued, "I think that we should not rush down there right now"

"What?" His eye twitched

"We don't know where they are right now. We should go to the prophet and find out their exact location"

"Jody said Surena told her that they were at a shelter outside of the palace"

"Jody said that she would call us when she found them and we're still waiting on the call Dean. Let's put our heads on for a moment and think about this logically. If we go find the prophet and find out where they are, we'll find them much faster"

Dean closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. She could tell by his expression that he agreed with her.

"I shouldn't have left him alone like that" He said softly "He was too old"

"We were attacked here too Dean, he probably wouldn't have survived that either. There aren't any more safe places for young or old" Bela took a few cautious steps towards him. She didn't have much experience with Dean in this state but on the rare occasions when he was under such enormous amounts of stress, he preferred solitude. He opened his eyes and pulled her against him, wrapping his arms around her and resting his head on the top of her hair.

"If something bad happens to them I swear" He growled and released her suddenly from his embrace.

"You go talk to Sam and Rissy" He said from the doorway "I'm going to go see if Gabriel can take us to New York" And he was gone.

* * *

Esmeralda sat quietly and stared across the boat at the large attractive man who claimed to be an angel. She almost didn't follow him but when he said that Jeremy had sent for her how could she have refused him?

"I'm sorry sir, where did you say that we were headed to again?"

"The unicorn colony" He said flatly

"Oh" She nodded. The man was clearly in need of serious psychiatric help. She held her breath and prayed that he wouldn't murder her and toss her body into the river.

"You came a the most inopportune time." He chided

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be an inconvenience Mr.… Uhm"

"Castiel" The man said

"Oh yes, Castiel. You see I needed to run away because-"

"This place is dangerous" The strange man interrupted "You're not safe here. You should have stayed home"

"I'm sorry"

"I don't know if Jeremy told you about who he is"

"Who he is?"

The man rolled his eyes "What I am about to tell you will be very shocking and hard to accept."

"What do you mean?"

* * *

"Princess Angelina, it is getting so dark?" Nina groaned, "Where are we going?"

"We have to find another place for shelter"

"I'm thirsty" Isabel panted, "We need water"

"My legs are tired and bleeding" Ramon winced "Can we stop to rest?"

"Princess Angelina, shall we eat soon?"

"Should we find the others?"

"It's getting dark and cold"

"Shut up!" Danny yelled at the three complaining unicorns "Can't you see she's trying to figure things out?"

"It's alright Danny" Angelina said sternly "We will make camp here for the night. We need some wood" She bent down and started picking up sticks and branches and before long they had gathered enough wood to build a fire which they all sat around in a circle, warming their hands and arms.

"Em and I used to make fires like this in her woods behind her house" Jeremy smiled slightly "Oh God Em!" He slapped a hand to his forehead

"What is it?" Ramon asked worriedly

"My girlfriend was on her way to the palace when-" He rubbed at his eyes with his fingers "When everything happened. Now I don't know where she is or if she's even okay."

"She's with my father, your friend will be fine" Angelina rubbed his back soothingly

"Yeah. Probably. She's probably so frightened"

"Who told her to come?" Mattie hissed in a sudden burst of anger "What right did she have to invite herself here?"

"Mattie, calm down" Danny frowned

"She was all alone, she gets bullied a lot at school Matt, she couldn't handle being there alone" Jeremy started to explain

"I get bullied a lot in school too, doesn't mean I'm going to go follow someone's family to a different country without telling anyone" John interrupted

"Well you're not her. Leave her alone, you don't even know her" Jeremy snapped defensively

"Do you?" Mattie challenged, "Do you even know her Jude? Because we don't, she's never even been to our house! Now all of a sudden she thinks she can impose herself on us like it's okay yeah? Who gave her the right?"

"Mattie relax" Danny commanded

"No I'm not going to relax!" She shrieked at him "Bobby is dead! He died right in front of us! He's gone and all this selfish prat can bloody think about is his twit girlfriend" Mattie glared at Jeremy accusingly

"You think that I don't care about-" His eyes were wide with horror "How dare you? You have some bloody nerve!"

"Stop it!" Lucy shot to her feet "Stop fighting! Do you realize how much trouble we're in? We have no phone, no supervision, no protection, and nobody knows where we are! The last thing we need is to start fighting and I won't have it! Not while I'm in charge"

"You're not the boss of us" John glared

"Yes the hell I am." She snarled back "You're all my responsibility and that makes me the boss of you"

"Alright then boss" Mattie gave a contemptuous chuckle "What now? Tell us what to do now then boss. What in bloody hell are we supposed to do now?"

"I don't know yet"

"What do you mean you don't know? You're in charge of us aren't you? We're your responsibility? Then act responsibly and tell us what we're supposed to do!"

"Mattie I said that was enough!" Danny roared, "You're not the only one feeling right now so lay off!"

"I was just-"

"I don't care what you were just-" He cut her off sharply "Lucy's right. Now isn't the time for fighting, that's how people get hurt"

Mattie stared at him with bitter reluctance; her eyes were brimming with angry tears.

"We all loved him you know" Lucy said softly "I know I didn't live with him but that doesn't change what he meant to me"

And suddenly Mattie started sobbing, Lucy walked over and wrapped her arms around her cousin's shoulders, leaning her onto her collarbone and stroking her hair gently.

Danny looked over to see how Kate was holding up; she was just staring into the fire as if she were in some kind of trance. Danny decided to leave her alone this time. The hours passed and the night grew cold, Danny relight the fire every time it died down and Angelina insisted that she keep watch over them while they slept during the night in case of danger. Danny couldn't sleep. He across the fire and looked at Angelina who was looking right back at him. Her face was somber and bursting with guilt and remorse. He felt as though he could read her thoughts "I'm so sorry that I have failed us all. I don't know what to do"

Danny communicated back with a sad smirk and a slow shrug "There's nothing we can do"

There was a distant rumbling of a thundercloud. Danny's eyes widened in panic and she shook her head quickly as if to say, "That wasn't me"

They both looked up towards the sky right as it began to pour.


	18. Chapter 18

"Thanks for nothing you son of a bitch" Dean grumbled as he looked down at the address that Gabriel had left for them. He wasn't answering their prayers at all anymore; once he heard that Bobby was dead he had vanished, most likely so he could avoid the inevitable request to have Sala bring him back to life again.

"Is this the house?" Adam asked poking his head at the window

"It's the yellow one" Dean said and opened his door before turning to face the rest of his passengers "Stay here. I don't want to bombard this girl; she's probably going to be freaked out enough as it is. Sam, you ready?"

"Hold on" Chessa demanded, "Do you really think two huge guys knocking on her door with all of this crazy supernatural babble won't scare her more? You need a girl to come with you. I'll go"

"No, I'll go" Bela scowled "If you think Dean and Sam would scare them, what do you think you'll do?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Chessa spat "I'm not scary!"

Sam and Dean exchanged a look and turned back to her.

"Oh come on! I'm not scary! Right hon?" She asked Adam. His eyes widened and he shook his head "Uh, I. Well I mean-"

"Adam!"

"Uh, no sweetheart you're not scary"

"Great. Thanks" She huffed

"Enough arguing" Rissy said, "I'll go." And she climbed out of the car.

"Let me do the talking" Dean said to Rissy in a low voice when they reached the top of the steps"

"Why?"

"Because we've dealt with prophets before. You're here for moral support"

Sam pushed the doorbell.

"I'm coming!" They heard a voice yell over dogs barking "Hold on!"

The door swung open and before them stood a young girl around eighteen. The first thing Rissy noticed about her was her lavender hair. Then the white one-piece pajamas decorated with pink and white print kisses. Dean seemed to notice it too as he blinked several times to remove the quizzical look from his face.

"Hi" He smiled charmingly, quickly regaining his composure

The girl just stood there staring with her mouth wide opened as if she had gone into shock.

"We're looking for someone named Sonia Manners? Does she live here?" Sam asked

The girl closed her mouth abruptly but she didn't stop staring. She didn't even blink.

"Uh" Dean looked at Rissy and Sam uncomfortably and then back at the girl

"Well my name is Dean and this is my brother Sam and- Whoa!" He yelled as the girl started falling backwards. Dean lunged forward and caught her before she hit the ground

"Well so much for not scaring her" Rissy frowned at the unconscious girl

"We didn't say anything." Dean grunted lifting the girl into his arms and carrying her inside. The other two followed and Sam closed the front door behind them.

* * *

She blinked her eyes open. "What the hell just happened?" She thought in a daze as she came to. And there they were. Sam, Dean, and Rissy Winchester right on her couch, just as she dreamed it last night. "How could this be real?"

"Hey" Dean smiled "Look who's finally waking up"

"Do you know who we are?" Sam asked

Sonia shot up so fast it made her dizzy "Yes" She managed to say despite her the rising acid in her stomach making her feel sick

"So that would make you Sonia then?"

"Yes, I'm Sonia" She put her hands to her head. It was pounding.

"And you know why we're here?" Dean asked

"Yes"

"Well you're taking this a lot better than the last prophet we met" Dean gave a small half smile

"I already had a breakdown this… Where are my dogs?" She gasped suddenly realizing that her three dogs were completely silent and nowhere to be found.

"Sam put them in your backyard. They're pretty friendly. I hope you don't mind" Rissy smiled

"Oh no I don't" Sonia took a deep breath "Uh, I already had a breakdown this morning when I realized that this was all real. That I didn't imagine this whole story in my head or something"

"What made you realize that?" Dean asked suspiciously

Sonia took a deep breath and when she was sure she could stand, she moved off of the sofa she was lying on and led them into the first room she could find with a working television. She reached for the remote in the center of her mother's bed and flicked on the TV and the news came up instantly.

_**Authorities are still trying to find fifteen-year-old Esmeralda Fuego who disappeared from her suburban home in Sioux Falls, South Dakota late Friday night. If you have any information at all regarding Esmeralda's whereabouts"**_

Dean looked at Sam "That's not the same-"

…_**Brother-in-law has this to say**_

"Yeah I think it is"

'_**We love you Esmeralda. If you're out there just know how much we miss you…'**_

"It is" Sonia confirmed, "She just arrived at the colony in Costa Rica"

Sam grabbed Sonia's shoulders tightly in his hands "Sonia, do you know where our kids are?"

"Yes, they're in the woods outside of the palace. They're really far away now. Trying to find shelter from the rain"

…_**The family is offering a two hundred dollar reward for her safe return…**_

"Jody said that they were going to a shelter" Rissy squeaked in panic

"Angelina burned it down"

"She what?"

"It was an accident" Sonia explained quickly "She was only trying to burn Bobby. Sorry about him by the way."

…_**Back to you Tom… **_

Dean ran a hand down his face

_**Thank you Tina…**_

"Sonia, I need you to tell me where they are right now." Sam ordered calmly

"I don't know the name of the location, I'd know it if I saw it"

"We can't take you with us. We're already in over our heads enough with this Esmeralda kid. Plus it's too dangerous." Dean sighed gruffly

"That's the only way I can help you find them. Please take me with you. Please? Before my mom gets home and tells me I can't. Please? I was meant to help you"

Sam gave Dean a look that Sonia had seen a thousand times before in her dreams. She had won. They would take her.

"Are they going to be safe until we reach them?" Rissy asked

"I think so. They're being rescued right now"

_**Is penguin meat bad for you? The shocking truth when we return…**_

* * *

"You can't stop it?" Lucy shouted over the rain pounding down on them

"I'm trying!" Angelina shouted back

"Princess! Over there!" One of the unicorns that had been in the shelter screamed at several figures approaching through the trees

"Holy Crap what is that?" John screamed

Angelina shifted into a unicorn, the others followed baring their horns down defensively at the intruders.

Three dogs immerged from the trees and began barking at them.

Angelina lowered her long sharp horn at them and they all took a step back. The one in the middle, a large husky with ice blue eyes, stared at Mattie. There was something eerie about the way it was watching her.

"Stop!" A man yelled from behind the dogs. He was tall and muscular, his skin tone the color of the rich creamy hot chocolate that Rissy would make for them on snow days after a snowball war against her dad and uncle.

"These are the Winchesters." The man said to the dogs. Mattie had to blink several times before she could believe her eyes as the husky transformed into naked woman right in front of her. Kate screamed in horror and John clutched his chest as if he were trying to keep his heart from exploding out of it.

"Who the hell are you?" Lucy yelled, "What the hell are you?"

"I'm an old friend of your mom's, kid. You're probably too young to remember me but I used to come by a lot" He had to shout over the pouring rain.

"Are you the guy who warned us about the house? Did you follow us? Are you following us?"

"I'll explain it all later. Right now we need to get away from this storm"

"Come on, let's get you out of the rain and into the camp" The man beckoned with his hand extended towards them

"Are you kidding me? We don't even know you people." Lucy yelled over the rain hammering all around them

"Would you rather be out here unprotected?" He accused at her. When she didn't answer fast enough he began pointing at the dogs, ending with the naked woman who was apparently unfazed by the rain all over her bare skin.

"That's James, that's Felicia, and this is Ginnie"

"And who are you?" Lucy asked him shakily, her teeth clattered loudly from the cold rain

"Mark. Nichols." He said "Now let's get you kids to safety"

* * *

Mark's cabin was so warm and dry that Mattie felt immediately at ease from the moment she walked inside. Mark gave them all towels and dry clothes, which came in handy because the three dogs and all of the unicorns didn't have any clothing at all. Lucy had to tie bunches of Mark's clothing and tie them in knots for them to fit Kate at all but they appreciated the hospitality.

"I bet you're hungry." He said digging through his pantry

"Starving." John said excitedly

"You are the Winchesters?" Ginnie asked suspiciously

"Some of them" Mattie answered, "I'm Mattie, that's my brother Danny, and these are my cousins Jeremy, John, Lucy, and Kate. Who are you?"

"Ginnie's a skin walker." Mark said over his shoulder. He was making sandwiches at the counter. "They're kind of like shifters only instead of shifting into different people, they shift into dogs"

"That's pretty neat" John nodded "I'm part shifter too, only we can't really do much with it besides change our eyes and hair. We're pretty far removed from that gene"

"So it is true" One of the other skin walkers said "You are the Winchesters from the prophecy. But how can that be? You're so young!"

"I don't think anyone be doing any fighting" Lucy said "Our parents are on their way to get us now"

Mark set a plate of peanut butter and honey sandwiches in the center of the table and sat down.

"Well when the raining stops you can go stay with the rest of the resistance while you wait for them to show"

"The resistance?" Angelina asked before taking a large bite of her sandwich

"An army of hunters and creatures that came together to stop the monster apocalypse"

"Oh I don't know about us joining with any armies" Lucy shook her head skeptically

"It's safer with them than it is out here on your own honey" He frowned "It's really the only option you have"

"I have to get back to my colony somehow." Angelina pouted

"Your colony is being taken care of. I think Surena has a pretty good handle on things right now"

"How do you know that?" Danny squinted

"I know things. Speaking of which, how's your mom?"

"You know our mother?" Mattie smiled

"Yeah. Your mom and I used to be pretty good friends a while back"

"She never mentioned you before" Danny said eyeing the man, Mattie could tell that he was picking up on the same vibe she was getting from this strange man.

"Well your dad and I had a falling out and she of course decided to stand by him when he forbade her from seeing me again"

"My dad never forbade anything of my mother" Danny snapped defensively "She's not a dog"

"No offense" Lucy said quickly at Ginnie

"Look, I wasn't trying to offend. I'm sorry" Mark smiled sincerely "You know you remind me a lot of him you know, you look a mirror image of your dad"

"Thank you" Danny said sharply

"So how did you know my mom?" Lucy asked in an obvious effort to shift the tension away from Danny

"We used to hunt together. She was really a great lady, very sweet, very smart."

"Did Uncle Dean tell my mom not to talk to you too?" Kate asked

"My dad didn't make anyone do anything Kate. Don't listen to everything you hear" Danny growled and shot a look at Mark

"The rain looks like it has stopped" Angelina observed awkwardly

"Great" Ginnie smiled "Now we can take you. Collin is so anxious to meet you"

"Collin?"

"He's more or less the leader of the resistance." Mark said

"He's brilliant." A skin walker said

"And he's only nineteen"

"Eighteen" Ginnie corrected "And he's done so much for us"


	19. Chapter 19

Jody trudged through the forest, or what was left of the forest, all she could see all around her were burned down trees and scorched plants. She looked around frantically for any signs of Bobby and the children but so far there was nothing to find. She wiped the perspiration from her forehead, the humidity was the worst part, and she felt like she was suffocating in the dense air. How could it still be so humid after all of that rain?

"Bobby? Danny? John?" She called out into the wilderness when suddenly she spotted something glinting in the sunlight. She ran over to it and picked it up. It was Mattie's silver charm bracelet. Dean and Bela had bought it for her eighth birthday; the sliver devil's trap charm was covered in mud. Jody pushed her thumb over its surface until it was clean. The kids were here.

"Mattie? Matilda! Matilda!" Jody called out frantically with renewed confidence. It wasn't long before she reached an old burned down shack. Was this the shelter that Surena had told her about? Jody walked around the charred remains of cabin. This was the shelter? This is what Surena thought would protect the kids? God damn her!

Jody picked up the remains of what looked like a chair and threw it across the room.

"This is the shelter!" She screamed, "This is it! AH!" She kicked over a piece of the collapsed roof that had fallen on to the floor.

"God damn it! God damn you!" Jody cried "The poor babies. My poor babies" She sobbed loudly. She didn't even hear the creaking, she didn't feel the creeping, and she didn't sense the danger lurking outside.

* * *

Esmeralda had always been a good swimmer. Her father had taken her to the ocean for the first time when she was two, he didn't believe in swimming in pools, he used to tell her that all of those people who weren't chosen to be on Noah's Arc would have survived if their parents would have taught them how to swim in the ocean instead of silly pools. By the time she reached the age of ten, she swam like a fish, and would easily spend an entire day in the water without a thought. In many ways she preferred water to land, the way she could so easily glide from one place to another as though she was floating on air was so much more appealing to her than tromping around on the ground all day always being reminded of gravity's anchor to your body as it pulled you back down with every step you took. Her father died when she was eleven, he fell twenty stories off of the construction site where he worked, and after that there weren't any more trips to the ocean. Esmeralda's mother was too consumed by grief to feed or clothe her children much less take them anywhere that would remind her of her husband. Esmeralda would never admit it to herself but she felt relief when her mother signed custody over her and her sister to their grandmother. It meant food in their stomachs, it meant a roof over their heads, and it meant clothing on their backs during the wintertime. Most importantly, for Esmeralda at least, it meant being able to swim again. When she became a lifeguard at her local pool she swam everyday and with every stroke she had her father back. As the strange angel pulled her through the grass field dripping with death and destruction, she was back in the water holding her breath underneath the surface with Jeremy, waiting to see who would break first and go back up for air. The man spoke to a beautiful woman in a long red robe, she couldn't hear them well; it's always more difficult to hear people when you're underwater. Whatever words she could make out didn't make much sense.

"In shock" The man said gesturing back at her. Garble. Garble.

"Destroyed" Garble. "Died" Garble. The woman said

"Angelina" Garble.

"Took" Garble. "Shelter." Garble

The last thing that Esmeralda heard was the man telling the woman "Watch her" before vanishing into thin air. The last thing she saw was the sky as she collapsed backwards. Then there was blackness.

* * *

"So what the hell are we supposed to do? We can't fight all these monsters here on our own!" Jim yelled

"What part of our kids are in danger are you not understanding?" Rissy barked

"We need you here" Henry frowned "You have so many angels and demons on your side, send them to protect the children. We need you"

"This isn't up for discussion" Dean said with finality "Where the hell is Sonia already?"

"She's in the kitchen making coffee." Bela said

"Again? I swear that girl goes through a gallon a day" Dean was saying just as a woman appeared in the room. Bela recognized her; it was Vanessa, one of Crowley's demons.

"Going somewhere?" She asked in a haughty voice

"Actually yes. We're going to be out of the country for a while. You can handle everything here just fine right?" Dean gave her a sarcastic smile

"Vacationing are we?" She raised an eyebrow

"Even if it was any of your business, which it isn't-"

"It isn't my business? I'm sorry but I'm pretty sure that I'm putting my ass on the line for you everyday. How about a little gratitude?" She stalked towards him and lifted her chin defiantly

"How about you get out of my way bitch?" Dean sneered

"How about I peel the insolence from your-"

"That's enough" Sam glowered at the demon "Back off"

Vanessa glanced over at Sam and after a quick risk assessment, took a few steps back from Dean

"What do you want?" Rissy glared

"To touch base. To let you know that out numbers are growing throughout the country and that three of my commanding officers have been tortured and killed by I could only assume to be a hoard gigantic man bulls"

"Gigantic what?" Dean tilted his head

"Minotaur" Grace said entering the room "head of a bull and body of a man"

"Those are real?"

"Everything is real darling, we went over this remember?"

"Point is that I need your help" Vanessa said sharply

"You just said that our numbers are growing. Go ask them" Dean said dismissively

"Yeah our so called 'allies' are the ones who murdered my officers. They don't want to work with us" Vanessa placed a hand on her hip defiantly

"Wonder why" Dean scoffed

"Alright I've had it you asshole!" Vanessa roared and Dean went flying across the room

"Hey!" Sam yelled before he, Rissy, Bela, and all the rest of the hunters were thrown as well and pinned to the walls.

"I'm sick and tired of being treated like I'm beneath you. I risk my life everyday fighting in a war that I have nothing to do with. Show me some respect!"

"Am I interrupting anything?" A voice said accompanied by a timid knocking on the doorframe.

"Not at all, come right in" Grace smiled politely

"Hi, everyone" The breathtaking woman waved uncomfortably at everyone tucking some of her short red hair behind her ear.

"Can we continue this conversation later?" Grace asked Vanessa with firm civility

Vanessa glared back at her for a few moments and released them disappearing as the hunters went crashing to the ground.

"Sorry about that" Grace sighed to the woman

"Who are you?" Dean grunted as he helped Bela back to her feet

"My name's Taylor, Grace told me to meet her here, for safety" She said innocently but her fingers trailed down from her hair to the scoop neck collar of her shirt slowly bringing Dean's eyes subtly down along with it. Bela and Taylor locked eyes; Taylor gave her an amused smile and dropped her hand back down to her side. Rissy seemed to notice it too; she put a possessive hand on Sam's shoulder, silently calling his attention away from Taylor's large bust line.

"Taylor is a succubus" Grace announced proudly

"The man-eating, life draining, temptress succubus?" Dean asked half accusingly

"Only by blood" Taylor smiled dazzlingly "I don't hurt good people"

"But you do hurt people" Sam said with a reproachful nod

"Yeah but like baby killers, rapists, murders, and that sort of thing. I do my due diligence. Trust me, I'm not a bad guy"

"If I had a dollar every time I've heard that" Jim grumbled

"She's a friend of mine" Grace said with a tone of finality "She stays"

"Whatever" Dean sighed, "We have a plane to catch. Sonia!"

"Great, I'm glad to be here" Taylor smiled radiantly "Oh and there's one more thing. My boyfriend isn't too happy about seeing you guys again but I told him that it was all water under the bridge. It is right?"

"Who's your boyfriend?"

"Patrick?" She called into the hallway and in walked a tall handsome man with curly dark brown hair and a toothpick sticking out of his mouth. Bela didn't even realize that she was staring at him until he winked at her and she blushed.

"Oh no not you again" Dean grumbled

"My sentiments exactly" Patrick said with a thick Irish accent as he flicked his eyebrows in annoyance

"Whatever. We have to go" Dean rolled his eyes and looked back at Bela "Close your mouth, sweetheart. Time to go"


	20. Chapter 20

**Author's note: For anyone still reading this story, I'm sorry it took so long to update! This story changed from just a story to a gajillion part soap opera (which you'll see in later chapters) partly due to the fact that I have way too many characters and a lot of stuff going on with all of them because I put so many friends in it. Sorry if it gets jumbled up or confusing or even dragged out too long. I promise I'm doing the best I can and I hope you enjoy the story anyway :o)**

* * *

When Ginnie said that the army was underground, few thought that she would mean it so literally. The group descended a metal staircase that brought them deeper and deeper under the Earth. The place looked a lot like a gigantic metal safe, only without a huge turn lock protecting it. Instead the place was lined with guards, some appeared human, others looked a lot like creatures that Mattie read about in the books she used to read inside of her tree house. Mark waved goodbye to them as they entered the institution before leaving them to go "take care of a few things" but he promised that he would be in touch. Ginnie lead them into a large auditorium full of clamoring creatures and hunters sitting in chairs and facing a small platform.

"We don't usually stay underground and have assemblies like this but we had to be safe while we waited" Ginnie explained leading them to the only row of empty chairs left in the room.

"Waited for what?" Danny asked taking a seat in between John and Angelina

"Waited for you, of course" Ginnie scoffed

Danny looked like he was about to say something else but the other voices in the room quieted down so suddenly that they all turned their attention towards the platform. A tall bronze skinned man with short dark hair walked onto the platform first followed by a girl with long wavy hair and pale eyes. When both of them had reached the center of the platform another man walked onto the stage, he wasn't as tall as the first man but he was far from short, his red hair was cut short and spiked, he stepped in the middle of the other two and grabbed the microphone.

"Attention everybody" The man in the middle said in a thick Irish accent

The soft murmuring among the audience ceased immediately

"For those of you who don't know me already, my name is Collin, on my left is Alice, and on my right, Tarik. Welcome to the resistance."

"The leader of the resistance is this little ginger boy?" John snickered. Mattie nudged him gently in the ribs.

"Shut up. I'm trying to listen"

"Many of you have come here in search of safety, refuge, or revenge but whatever your reason may be, there is one thing that is consistent, and that is that you are here with us now and nothing else matters. Comrades, purgatory has shattered open and now we are faced with an apocalypse. It is us against them!" Collin shouted

"Now we fight our toughest battle, brother to brother, sister to sister, parent to child, creature against creature! Many of us have lost our homes, our families, and our lives to the vicious beasts that slaughter us mercilessly. Well I say no more!"

The audience let out a cheer

"No longer will they have the power of fear over our lives! It's time to stand up and take our power back! We are not afraid to fight and we are not afraid to die for freedom!"

"Speak for yourself" John muttered

"Today, comrades, we have been provided with a stunning advantage; the advantage that we have been waiting for, searching for. Comrades, today we have been joined by the Winchesters."

Suddenly there was a hushed muttering in the crowd

"The final pieces have been set into place comrades, now is the time where we move from the hollow depths of the dirt and filth, now is the time where we rise up and fight for the world, fight for our family, and fight for our right to live!"

The crowd broke into thunderous applause and cheering

"This does not sound good" Jeremy whispered

"Excuse me, does anyone have a cellphone that we can use?" Lucy asked around. Most of them just looked at her like she was crazy, others answered her in a foreign language.

"We don't have cellphones here." One of the men from the stage said as he approached them. Tarik.

"You don't have cellphones? Why not? I have to tell my parents where I am. They're worried about us!" Lucy gasped in a panic

"Cellphones can be easily tracked, we have to remain invisible you understand" Tarik explained calmly

"My parents probably think that I'm dead. Do you understand? I need to contact them now!"

"Well okay, let's talk about this for a moment" Tarik smiled gently "Do you know where they are? I can have someone-"  
"If I knew where they were then I wouldn't be here right now!" Lucy shrieked

"Fair enough"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm just so stressed right now and I really can't handle all of this yelling." She panted

"I'm not yelling"

"Right. Sorry, I didn't mean to yell"

"That's okay" Tarik smiled "This is a lot to take in right now. You're one of the Winchesters correct?"

"No, not really. I was adopted into the family. No blood relation"

"Well if you're associated with the Winchesters than there isn't a doubt in my mind that they'll catch up with us. I don't think we've been formally introduced, my name is Tarik Akins "

"Lucy Milligan. This is my little sister Kate." She said turning to her side only to find that her sister wasn't there.

"Don't panic" Tarik said when he saw her expression "She went off with Ginnie and the others to scope out the place"

"Without me?"

"Well you were talking to me" He smiled

"They could have at least told me where they were going"

"I just did"

"Yes but they could have" Lucy frowned

"How old are you Lucy?"

"Just turned eighteen. Why?"

"You're very responsible for eighteen. Are you a hunter?"

"Far from it. My mom was but she quit after Kate was born so we could have a normal life" She sighed

"Didn't work out that way" He nodded understandingly

"Are you a hunter or a creature? If you don't mind me asking" Lucy bit her lip uncomfortably, she was still uneasy being so close to all of these strange beings that her mother used to hunt.

"Hunter. My brother and I were both hunters, I joined the resistance after he passed. You look relieved"

"No I, I'm sorry about your brother"

"Yeah. Anyway don't be too relieved that I'm human, there aren't many in this army."

"No I'm not, my cousins are part shifter so I'm not-"

"Good. We can't afford to distrust each other. Not even Collin is human. He's a leprechaun"

Lucy stifled a giggle until she realized that he was serious. "Oh, I didn't realize those were real."

"Everything is real Lucy" He raised his eyebrows

"Tarik, Alice needs to talk to you" an extremely short woman said from behind them

"If you'll excuse me" Tarik smiled politely "It was a pleasure meeting you. Your family will probably be in the cafeteria. Hilda will you take her there?"

"Right away sir" The short woman said and Tarik disappeared in the crowd

"There she is" Danny said pointing at Lucy as she joined them at the table. Lucy rolled her eyes in annoyance and dropped herself next to Kate. Ginnie smiled at her widely.

"So you met Tarik"

"Yes, he's really nice"

"He is" Ginnie leaned in across the table "Just make sure that you never-"

"Hello beautiful" A man said from behind Ginnie, planting a big kiss on her lips when she looked up at him.

Danny and Mattie stared as everyone else shifted uncomfortably at the very long display of affection.

"Mm, well hello to you too" Ginnie smiled at him when she finally got her lips back.

"Hello everyone" The man said seating himself next to Ginnie

"Hello there" Mattie laughed

"Everybody, I'd like you to meet my husband Roger" Ginnie beamed

"Nice to meet you" He smiled

"Hello" They all replied politely

"You must be the Winchesters I've heard so much about" He nodded

"In the flesh" Mattie giggled

"Incredible" He grinned "Where in the world did you get those accents from?"

"Our mum's a Brit" Danny explained

"What a coincidence, so is mine". They all laughed, Roger's British accent was thicker than theirs.

"Roger is a hunter." Ginnie said proudly

"Really?" Kate asked in awe, speaking for the first time since they arrived "Wow! A hunter and a dog!"

"Kate" Lucy hissed

"That's alright dear" Ginnie laughed, "Technically honey, I'm called a skin walker, that means I can shift into an animal form and a human form"

"So how did you two meet?" Mattie asked stabbing a piece of soggy broccoli from her tray with her fork

"Well that's a funny story" Roger said, "I was hunting her"

"You weren't really!" Mattie gasped

"I was, I'm telling you, God's honest, I was hunting her" He raised his hand in the air "I got wind that all of these skin walkers were pretending to be pets in people's houses and were all going to turn them at once, so I was on the look out for them. Next thing you know I run into this gorgeous woman right here and she tells me she's a hunter already on the case and tells me to back off because she doesn't trust other hunters"

"But he didn't" Ginnie said dreamily at him

"No I didn't. Started following a husky who I suspected was a walker, watched it break into a house one night and I thought it was going to find her trying to take a chunk out of the family while they slept, turns out she was fighting another skin walker and tearing his bloody throat right from his neck. Needless to say that all of the racket woke everyone up so I had to get out of there as fast as I could. Decided to grab her on my way out since she was too injured to walk. Took her back to my hotel room and when she finally shifted back, who but who was standing before me stark naked top to bottom?" Roger cocked his head in Ginnie's direction

"Good thing for that too" Ginnie smiled devilishly "I don't think he would've been so receptive if I wasn't". Roger laughed and kissed her lips again while Angelina held her face and blushed and John stuck his finger into his mouth pretending to gag.

"Wow" Jeremy said when they stopped kissing

"What?" Ginnie asked

"Nothing, you just remind me a lot of my parents" He smiled sadly

"We miss them terribly" Mattie sighed in agreement

"I can imagine" Ginnie frowned

"So have you met Collin yet?" Roger asked grabbing Ginnie's glass of water from her tray

"No, not yet. What's he like anyway?"

"Collin? He's, well, he's a tough guy you know. He really knows what he's doing"

"So it doesn't bother you at all being an adult being led by a teenaged boy?" John asked

"Not at all" Roger laughed, "I'd never want that kind of responsibility. Being the leader of an army, having so many people depend on you. Everyone always watching, criticizing, counting on you for survival; tell you the truth I don't know how that kid does it."

"He's a genius." Ginnie said proudly "He really takes good care of us"

"Yeah. Just make sure you stay in order, he can be very strict." Roger added

"What do you mean?" Angelina asked cautiously

"Winchesters?" Someone said approaching the table

"Yes?" Danny answered for all of them

"Collin would like you to join him for lunch. Please follow me"

* * *

Mattie held Jeremy's hand as they weaved about through massive crowd in the cafeteria so she wouldn't be separated from the rest of the group. As people bumped into her arms and shoulders when they made their way by her Jeremy tightened his grip protectively around her fingers, just like her father used to when she was little and he would take her out to see a baseball game or a movie at the theater when he was between hunts. His large calloused fingers wrapped protectively around her soft small hand. Back when she used to let him hold her hand, before she figured that she was much too old for that sort of thing. Mattie closed her eyes and bit back the urge to cry, what she would do to have him holding her hand right now. When they had finally pushed through the crowd and into the hallway Jeremy loosened his grip with every intention of releasing her hand from his but she closed her fingers around him tightly so he wouldn't let go. The man that they were following pushed a door open and held it for them. They filed inside.

Collin was sitting at a table with Tarik, Alice, and one other person that Mattie didn't recognize. Collin raised his hand and beckoned them over.

"Marius, can you do me a favor and grab some extra chairs so that they can sit?" He said with a fist over his mouth so nobody could see the food inside of it. The person who hadn't been introduced, Marius, stood from his seat and left the room.

"Please, sit" Collin said swallowing what was in his mouth and gesturing towards the empty chairs. There were four of them, Mattie, Kate, Nina, and Isabel sat down. Tarik stood and held his chair out.

"Please sit." He said to the remaining girls who were standing. John shrugged and made a move towards the seat but Danny reached out and grabbed his arm before he could take a full step. Lucy smiled politely and sat down instead.

"Thank you" She smiled. Tarik nodded took a few steps back.

"So, you're the Winchesters" Collin said in a statement more than a question

"Yup"

"Well this is exciting, I've heard quite a bit about you. Your fathers were great hunters"

"Are" Mattie said quickly

"Excuse me?" He asked confusedly

"You said were, past tense, but they still hunt." She said with a polite smile

"Oh yes of course, my apologies" Collin said "Well welcome aboard. We've been waiting some time for you to join us, we had no idea when to expect you."

"We didn't even know about any of this until recently" Jeremy explained "We're only here now just by accident"

"Just by accident?" Collin frowned

"My palace was attacked" Angelina said sadly "We were driven into the woods by many unfortunate events"

"Sorry to hear that" He said flatly as Marius and a few others set up more chairs.

"Since you're here though, I thought we might all like to introduce ourselves properly. I'm Collin, I'm a leprechaun and I started fighting in the resistance after my entire village was slaughtered in the night by creatures that had escaped from purgatory"

"Oh my goodness" Kate whimpered

"Were there any other survivors?" Mattie asked glumly

"No" He said after a few moments

"I'm Alice" Alice announced quickly "Skin walker and Australian"

"What kind of dog do you turn into?" Mattie asked, her tone came out much sharper than she had intended. Alice looked at her and raised an eyebrow

"A Wallaby" She said sarcastically

"Right" Mattie huffed

"And you may have already met Tarik" Collin said nodding to Tarik

"Only Lucy" Tarik corrected, "For all of you I haven't met, my name is Tarik Akins"

"Are you a creature too?"

"Yes, but the full blooded human kind" He said

"I'm Mattie, this is my brother Danny, my cousins Jeremy, John, Lucy, and Kate, and our friends Angelina, Ramon, Nina, Isabel, and Selena"

"Mattie short for?" Collin ventured

"Matilda. But everyone calls me Mattie so, Mattie"

"Well, I think you'll have no trouble at all fitting in here" Collin said "We'll be heading out of here the day after tomorrow"

"Where are we going?"

"Above ground. Where the fighting is"

"What about our parents?" Danny demanded, "They'll be looking for us"

"Then they'll find us" Collin flashed a quick smile with a tone of stern finality


	21. Chapter 21

Bela wiped the perspiration from her forehead and shook it off of her fingers as they made their way through the dreaded forest leading to the colony.

"AH!" Sonia screamed and started to run

"What? What is it?" Sam and Dean yelled pulling up their guns

"There are bugs chasing me!" Sonia wailed

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Dean dropped his arms in exasperation "I thought you were hurt"

"They were all around me" Sonia defended meekly

"Yeah we get that. Typically happens when you're in the middle of a rainforest" Sam rolled his eyes

"How much farther is this place?" Chessa sighed

"We're almost there." Dean grumbled

"Are you telling me that you walk all this way every time you come down here?" Adam panted

"Yup" Rissy shrugged

"Oh my God" Sonia heaved

"What now?" Dean snapped

"Nothing" She closed her eyes "There are huge spiders everywhere. Like the size of my arm"

"Sonia?"

"Yes Mr. Winchester?"

"Call me Dean, and we have to get moving so lets go, come on"

"Okay" She breathed heavily "I'm just really- I just hate spiders"

"Great" Sam flicked his eyebrows at his brother accusingly as if it was all his idea to take her along

"Gah!" Sonia grunted falling to her knees with her head in her hands

"Sonia!" They all ran to her writhing body

"What is it? What do you see?" Sam demanded frantically

"They're- ah" Sonia winced "They're underground"

"Like what? In hiding?" Bela asked

"No I mean literally underground" Sonia said

"Like under the actual ground?" Dean frowned

"Yeah"

"Where?" Sam gripped her shoulders "Sonia, where are they?"

"They're going to take us there when we get to the colony"

"Alright, up you go" Dean grabbed the bottom of Sonia's elbow and hauled her to her feet "You okay?"

"Yeah" She said rubbing her temples "My head is just killing me"

"Can you walk?"

"Yeah I can walk"

"Come on, let's go"

By the time they got to the river, nobody was willing to wait until midnight for the transport that would bring them across it. Chessa was the first one to come up with a solution. She prayed to Castiel since he could easily send out a boat to get them.

"Why haven't we ever thought of that?" Dean whispered to Bela

"Because moonlit boat rides are romantic?"

"Good one, if anyone asks, we'll go with that one"

Cas appeared before them in a gust of wind, his robes were splattered with blood

"Hey are you okay?" Sam asked looking him over

"I'm fine, it isn't my blood." He said gently pushing Sam's hands away "It's Jody's"

"What?"

"She's okay, she's alive"

"What happened?" Rissy demanded

"She was attacked by an Elder"

"A what?" Bela's eyes widened in confusion

"You mean to tell me that Jody was attacked by an old person?" Dean frowned in puzzled frustration

"No. An Elder is like a god, very powerful when it comes to bending reality but easy to kill."

"Is Surena alright?" Rissy placed a concerned hand on his shoulder

"Yes" Cas said averting his eyes from her gaze "Surena was at the palace during the time of the attack"

"Wait what?" Sam squinted

"Jody went alone." Cas said shortly

"Surena let her go on her own? Isn't Angelina out there too?"

"Yes"

"And she's not out there looking for her?"

"It's complicated. I'll let her explain it to you when we get back. In the meantime, I'll have them send a boat" Cas said impatiently before disappearing

"I can't believe that Surena let Angelina go out into the woods on her own" Rissy said in disbelief

"She probably had a good reason." Adam offered

"A good reason? No, there is no good reason. Jody doesn't know this place. Surena does. The only excuse she could have for not getting out there to find her own daughter, would be if she was dead or something" Dean fumed

"Okay Dean, calm down" Bela took a deep breath "There has to be a good explanation for all of this. We know Surena; she's not the callous type"

Dean rubbed his eyes with his fingers and nodded. "Yeah, you're right. It's just-"

"Jody" Bela finished for him. She was feeling the same way; losing Bobby was tough enough without losing her too. Sweet Jody, always putting everyone else first. Bela's mind wandered back to that night she and Dean had argued over the cereal. They had both refused to clean up the mess that Bela had made on their bed because they each blamed the other implicitly. Even when the smell of curdled milk spilled into the hallway and polluted the air in the house, neither of buckled. Dean slept on the couch and Bela slept on the pullout in Bobby's study. It was Jody who had finally put an end to that war; she had Sam help her drag the mattress to the corner and cleaned the entire room top to bottom until the smell cleared out again. Sure both Dean and Bela lost the right to eat cereal for breakfast until they had both could prove that they could "handle it" In Jody's words. Now thinking about it, Bela and Dean hadn't had cereal for breakfast since then.

"She's always right in the middle of our messes isn't she?" Dean gave her a weak half smile "And now, with Bobby…" Dean trailed off.

"Boat" Chessa said pointing to an object approaching in the distance and everyone turned their attention in that direction. Except for Bela. She was still watching Dean, she wanted to hold him close and tell him again that it wasn't his fault that Bobby died. He was an old man now; there was nothing any of them could've done. But she knew it wouldn't do any good, Dean would just smile and nod and pretend that he believed her but he wouldn't. He would have to figure it out on his own. That was just his way.

"Do you remember our first boat ride to the colony?" She asked him instead

"Yeah I do, do you?" He smirked slightly "You were knocked out through half of it"

"I remember that too, you were telling me some boring hunting story and next thing I know, I'm waking up again" Bela gave him her best teasing smile

"Is that what happened" He laughed once and draped an arm around her shoulders as the boat grew near. She remembered that first boat ride; she woke up cradled in his arms. She was pregnant but hadn't figured it out yet.

"They're okay" Dean said softly as if he was reading her mind "Sonia would tell us if we should be worried"

"I know"

Rissy was the first to reach the boat and climb inside. She had her arms crossed and she tapped her foot impatiently. "Surena better have a good excuse." She muttered

"She probably does" Bela said lowering herself next to her. "Surena is one of the most compassionate people we know. She wouldn't put anything above finding the children."

* * *

"I had to find the rest of my people first." Surena had explained to them casually, as though it were no big deal, as though any rational mind would have done the same. Rissy erupted on her; Bela hadn't seen Rissy so worked up since that time she found out that John had been stuffed inside of his gym locker at school. Things only got worse after they saw Jody, her face and body were covered in cuts and abrasions, and she was muttering incoherently at nobody in particular.

"What's she saying?" Dean asked Castiel as they stood in the doorway watching her

"I'm not entirely certain, when I found her she thought that I was Bobby, I believe that the Elder may have put her in a trance before the attack"

"Did you ever find him?" Sam asked solemnly

"No. It looks as though the children cremated him, and burned down the shelter and a portion of the forest in the process."

"Alright where are Chessa and Adam? I want to find them before nightfall"

"Chessa had to use the bathroom, I think Adam walked her there"

Chessa bent over and washed her hands off in the river, there weren't any sinks in the outhouses but then again, they were probably just here for show seeing as though unicorns don't use them.

"Adam?" She called out towards the other outhouse

"Coming!"

"Okay, I'll wait for you" She said wiping her hands on her jeans. It was far hotter than jean weather but she couldn't risk hiking through the woods in a skirt. She bent over to tie her boots a little tighter when she heard a voice that nearly stopped her heart.

"Chessa?"

Without thinking Chessa grabbed her gun and shot three shots into where his heart should be.

"Come on Chessa, I know it's been a while but really?" Mark asked pointing to the bullet wounds. Suddenly Sam was behind him with a long knife pressed tightly against his throat.

"It hasn't been that long" Sam growled

"Sam" Mark said raising his hands defensively "Just wait a second okay? I come in peace"

"Oh that better not be who I think it is." Dean threatened as he made his way over

"Please Sam" Mark gulped against the blade "I can help you"

"How did you find us?" Sam asked through his teeth

"If I tell you, you're going to just kill me and not listen to what I have to tell you"

"I've got to say it, you've got balls coming down here like this" Dean smirked menacingly and took a few long steps until his face was inches from Mark's "Do it Sammy"

"Wait! I know where your kids are"

"What? Hold on" Bela said quickly moving herself in between Mark and Dean

"Your kids were lost in the rainforest, I saved them and brought them to shelter"

Sam released Mark and took a few steps back, Mark rubbed his neck and winced, the tips of his fingers were stained slightly from his black blood

"Where are they?"

"Underground, with the resistance. I figured that you would be here looking for them so I came back to find you"

"Why the hell would you even care?" Chessa spat

"Because we're on the same team, Chess." He let out a small sigh of defeated "We always have been"

"Take us there" Dean demanded as he absently pulled Bela away from Mark

"I will, but they move pretty fast. Is there some way that we can get there faster?"

"Surena?" Bela suggested, "It's the least she could do"

Adam walked up as they all were nodding in agreement. He stopped and stared at Mark "What did I miss?"

* * *

"This is your room, eight o'clock is lights out" Marius said opening one of the many doors in the corridor for Danny and John. "Breakfast is at five and we head off at six"

The room bare and metal, it looked like a jail cell, only there were cots on either side of the small room instead of a bunk bed. Marius handed Danny a small bag "Toothbrushes, toothpaste, change of clothes"

"Thanks man"

"Yeah" Marius said and bit his lip "Hey, just a heads up"

"Hm?"

"When the lights go out, just stay in okay?"

"What do you mean?" Danny frowned

"Just what I said, when the lights go out, stay in your room" Marius shrugged and turned to go

"Wait. What if I have to use the bathroom?" John asked uneasily

"Hold it." Marius said and shut the door

"Well that's not shady at all" John huffed and threw himself onto one of the cots

Danny dropped the bag onto his cot and dug through the contents, two black shirts, two black pairs of combat pants, two toothbrushes, and toothpaste.

"Hey Danny, what did you think about that chick Alice? She's pretty hot huh?"

"Yeah she seems nice" Danny said lowering himself down onto his bed

"Are you okay?"

"It's just been a really long week" Danny rubbed his eyes with his fingers

"Hey, do you think that we'll be able to bring Bobby back to life?"

"I don't know"

"Like they did with Uncle Adam and Bobby that other time?"

"I don't know John" Danny sighed

"What do you think Angelina and Isabel are doing right now in their room? Probably having a pillow fight" John snickered

Danny laid back on his bed and stared at the ceiling. They were heading off in the morning. "Dad, where are you?" He thought to himself.

"Danny?"

"Hm?"

"I think Angelina likes you. She's always watches you and stuff you know?"

"Hmm" Danny grumbled

"How cool would it be if like, you two got together and you became like the king of unicorns?"

"John?"

"But then there's that whole you not having wings thing. You think if you had wings, Angelina would've-"

"John?" Danny propped himself up on his elbows

"Yeah?"

"Don't you have to use the loo? You know before it gets too late?"

"No, I went right after dinner" John frowned

"You should really try again I think" Danny urged

"I don't have to go-"

The door opening up interrupted John, Jeremy and Ramon walked inside.

"Hey guys, come in, sit down" John smiled

"Lights out is in one half of an hour." Ramon stammered

"Relax, we have time" Jeremy said dropping himself on John's bed

"Okay but Marius told us-"

"Do you always do what you're told?" Jeremy flicked up an eyebrow

"Well, Angelina told me to listen to-"

"He always does what Angelina tells him to" Danny scoffed bitterly "Can't do anything without her"

"Not that there's anything wrong with that" Jeremy shot a warning look at Danny

Danny looked away, that was nasty to say, it wasn't Ramon's fault that Angelina rejected him. It was her responsibility, her damn brain washing, and her obligation to all of these helpless child-like beings under her care. On second thought, yes it was Ramon's fault.

"Knock-knock" They heard Mattie whisper from outside of the door

"Door's open" John called out

Mattie came inside hand in hand with another nervous unicorn.

"Nina" John beamed with outstretched arms; Nina tip toed over to him and entered his arms.

"What's the matter gorgeous?"

"She's afraid of being out after lights out" Mattie said casually before turning to Danny "Who loves you baby?" She flicked up her eyebrows and strolled over to him with her hands behind her back

"What've you got?" He asked sitting upright

"Tada" She giggled holding out a pack of cigarettes

"You're a goddess!" He gasped

"Not this again" John groaned "Why Mattie?"

"I was jonesing something awful for one of these and I saw some girls sparking up in the loo." She said excitedly as Danny flipped the carton open

"You still haven't learned your lesson then I take it yeah?" Jeremy glowered at them

"Oh please Jude, a year ago you were right here with us doing the same thing" Mattie rolled her eyes and popped a cigarette in her mouth

"Yeah, and I quit for a reason"

"A reason called Esmeralda"

"I still quit!"

"Don't do it guys" John grimaced "What would Dean say if he saw you like this?"

Danny paused for a moment with Bobby's lighter in his hands "Last one ever" He promised

"Disgusting" John rolled his eyes "Don't smoke that around me"

"You never complained before Johnny-"

"Well I'm complaining now Mattie!" John shouted as the lights shut off

"Oh no!" Nina shrieked

"What do we do now?" Ramon panted frantically

"Relax, we'll just go back to our rooms" Mattie laughed

"No. Marius said something about staying in after lights out" Danny said

"What did he say?"

"He said to stay in" John said

"Well, did he say why?"

"Nope, but I'm not going to be the one to test the waters" Danny exhaled in a puff of smoke "Guess you're camping out here tonight"

"I call dibs on Nina sharing my bed" John shot his hand up in the air


	22. Chapter 22

The alarms started blaring at eleven pm. Danny shot out of his bed, for a moment he had forgotten where he was, it was as though he was running through a dream as he propped himself so he could see out of the small barred opening that served as his window. Mattie, John, and Jeremy soon joined him, pushing against each other for a better look. They couldn't see anything, all they heard were footsteps clanking against the hard metal floors in the distance.

"We should run away" Ramon began hyperventilating

"Calm down Ramon" Danny ordered, "We're not going anywhere"

"I have to find the Princess" He squeaked

"Marius warned us to stay in" John explained calmly

"I have to go! I have to find her!" Ramon shivered frantically before throwing the door open and running out

"Ramon!" Nina screamed and started after him but Danny slammed the door and glared at her

"Back up" He commanded

"But Ramon!"

"Back up now!"

"Come here sweetie" Mattie said draping her arms around the sobbing unicorn's shoulders

"Nobody is leaving this room"

"Ramon, oh Ramon" Nina wailed into Mattie's shirt

"What should we do?" Jeremy asked running both of his hands over his head

"Wait until morning. We don't know what's going on out there"

"But Danny, what if Ramon gets hurt" Nina cried

"I'm sure he's just fine love." Mattie said soothingly

The alarm stopped abruptly and the running sounds faded into the distance.

"Try to get some sleep" Danny directed at nobody in particular as he peered through the small window in his door into the empty corridor.

But none of them would sleep that night. Danny stayed by the door, guarding them against the invisible threat that had set off the alarms, Jeremy sat on Danny's bed on high alert, John sat on the floor next to his bed staring up at the other window in the wall, the soft moonlight touching his face gently, making it the brightest thing in the room, and Mattie held Nina in her arms on John's bed, rocking her gently as her soft sobs provided them with a sad lullaby for the entire night.

Danny led the group through the halls as soon as the lights went back on at dawn. The goal was to find Ramon before Angelina found them, only they didn't know the first place to look or whom to ask for help.

"Collin!" Mattie said stopping dead in her tracks in the middle of the hallway "He's the leader of this whole thing right? He should know!"

"We have to tell Angelina" Nina sniffled "She needs to know what has happened"

"No!" Danny shouted causing the rest of them to freeze in shock "Nobody's telling her anything, we'll find Collin and he'll tell us where Ramon is. End of story, got it?"

"But Danny-"

"End of discussion" Danny glared "Now come on" he said and waved his hand in the air, beckoning them along before she could answer

"But Danny, what if Angelina is looking for us?" Nina whimpered uneasily as they approached Collin's dining area

"She'll be fine Nina, don't worry about it" John said reassuringly

"But she must be worried! What if she is going mad with fear?" Nina was nearly hyperventilating

"Calm down Nina" Jeremy frowned

"I cannot! How can I calm down? Ramon is gone and Princess Angelina is probably worried sick! I have to-"

"Then go" Danny snapped "Go find her then if you're so worried"

"Dan" Mattie frowned

"But I don't want to go alone and get lost" Nina said meekly

"Then relax yourself so we can find Ramon" He said sternly with a quick flick of his eyes identical to his father's.

"You're fine" Danny stated as a fact and knocked on the door

It was Marius who opened the door, but only a crack.

"What is it?"

"Uhm, we're looking for our friend Ramon" Danny said uneasily

Marius just stared back at them unconcernedly spinning a bright red apple around in one of his hands

"You see, he got nervous last night when the alarms were going off and all that. He kind of just… Ran away"

"He left the room?" Marius raised an eyebrow

"Yes, he panicked and left"

"Told you not to leave the room" Marius closed his eyes and shrugged before taking a bite of his apple

"Yes I know. He just was scared. You wouldn't happen to know where he is now, would you?"

"Not my place to tell you"

"Marius is it?" Mattie asked with a soft smile

He switched his glance over to her, chewing his apple slowly. He didn't answer so she continued

"Marius, please. Ramon is a very dear friend of ours and he is very nervous. He's probably scared half to death right now. He needs us. Please can you tell us where he is?"

"Who's at the door?" They heard Alice ask from behind him. Marius pushed the door open all the way and she stepped into full view.

"Can we help you with something?"

"Our friend. Ramon? Went missing last night, we'd like to know if you've found him"

"Skittish mate with the shifty eyes?"

"Yes that's him!" Nina clapped her hands to her mouth excitedly

"Yeah, we found him" She smirked "Follow me"

"See? No problem." Danny heaved a sigh of relief and smiled at Nina

Alice led them across the deceptively large shelter to a small office with a large red cross on the door

"He's in the infirmary? Why?" Jeremy stared in surprise

Alice swung the door open and they saw Ramon lying on a cot, his leg was bandaged around his kneecap.

"Ramon!" Nina squealed and ran over to him. He winced in pain and hugged her close.

"What the hell happened to him? What did you do?" Danny shouted at Alice

"He's been shot" The nurse answered for her

"Grazed more like" Alice corrected

"Why did you shoot him?" John stared at her in disbelief

"I didn't shoot him. From what I hear, after the alarms went off, they found him running like a mad man so they did what they were trained to do"

"Shoot first and ask later?" Jeremy gaped "Hell of a system you got"

Alice shrugged "It gets the job done" She said with a wink and ducked out of the room

Mattie turned to Danny and bit her lip "Ange is going to kill us"

* * *

Bela couldn't stand it any longer. The gently rocking of the enormous unicorn walking beneath her was unbearable and who knew how much farther the resistance would be.

"Dean" She whispered to her husband on the unicorn next to her

"What?" He whispered back so as not to wake Sonia who had fallen asleep and was currently resting on his chest

"We have to stop for a moment"

"What? Why?" He demanded softly

"I have to" Bela made a face at the thought of relieving herself in the middle of the woods like a barbarian. Dean understood immediately and squinted accusingly at her

"Why didn't you go before we left?"

"I didn't have to go then." She pouted

"Are you serious? Come on, you sound like a three year old"

"Well I'm sorry I can't hold my bladder for ten hours at a time but we have to stop"

"Bela, we can't stop now. We're almost there!"

"How do you know that?" She hissed

"I just know okay?"

"I'll ask Mark"

"No. You're not asking that guy anything." He growled, "Remember what happened last time you two started talking"

"You really are a drama queen you know that? I just want to know when-"

"I'll ask him." Dean said sharply

"Be my guest" She grinned

"Hey Mark!" Dean called out

"Dean?" Mark asked politely

"How much longer?"

"Maybe an hour from here"

Dean turned back to his wife "Can you hold it another hour?"

"I can't hold it another minute"

"Gross. Okay everybody, lets hold on a minute"

"What Dean? Why?" Sam asked with mild irritation

"Bela has to-"

"Be right back" Bela interrupted and slipped off of the unicorn

"Wait, I'll go with you" Rissy said groggily unhooking her arms from around Sam's waist

"Nope, I can manage on my own" Bela put two hands halting in the air

"No. You're not going out there alone." Sam scoffed

"Yes I am. I'll be two seconds away"

"No. Take Rissy" Dean said firmly

"Sweetie, girls don't use urinals, we use stalls, we like our privacy okay?"

"Yeah, can't get much more private than the woods" Dean smirked sarcastically

"I'll be right back."

"Bel-"

"Dean. Thirty seconds and I'll be right back"

"Fifteen and you're taking Rissy"

"One minute."

"Ten seconds and then I'm coming to get you myself"

"Really?" Bela crossed her arms defiantly

"Nine. You better get moving" Dean waved a hand towards the trees surrounding them

"Jack ass" She grumbled

"Love you too cupcake" She heard him say faintly as she hurried away to find somewhere just out of their earshot.

* * *

Bela had just barely unzipped her jeans when she heard rustling from behind her.

"Dean, I know it hasn't been ten seconds yet." She said spinning around

"I know. I just missed you so much, I couldn't wait anymore." He said in a low voice

"Cute. Well do you mind? I kind of have to go"

"Come here" His voice was deep and commanding

"Hold on a minute Dean-"

"Now."

"Just wai-"

"Get over here!" He roared yanking her by the arm violently and holding her body hard against his. Dean stared down at her, his eyes were brooding and pained, his mouth was stretched into a deep menacing grin. A terrifying grin.

"Let me go" Bela said in her best attempt at a commanding voice, her arm was shooting pain through her shoulder and neck.

"Now that's no way to talk to your husband is it sweetheart?" He smiled thinly

"You're not Dean" the realization parted from her trembling lips sending a shiver down her spine. The smile disappeared from Dean's lips and anger welled in his perfectly replicated eyes

"Dean!" She screamed out as loud as she could before she watched his hand rise and fall on her face sending her reeling into darkness.

* * *

When Bela came to, the first thing she noticed were the restraints around her wrists and ankles that bound her to her chair. The room was damp and murky and it smelled like mold, her head was pounding, the ropes were too tight, where was she?

"Rise and shine sleeping beauty" She heard Dean say, she looked up at him. He was sitting in a chair in front of her, grinning widely.

"Where am I?" She said groggily

"Welcome to my humble abode" He said holding his arms out on either side of his body welcomingly "Or should I say, our humble abode"

"What? What are you? Where's Dean?"

"I am Dean." He said with a thoughtful frown

"Oh dear" She breathed. This was trouble. "I take it that you're a shifter?"

Dean didn't answer, he pivoted away from her and walked towards a long table with what appeared to be cutlery. How had she not noticed that first? This was trouble indeed.

"You know I have to say, I didn't know how I was going to do this" Dean said with his back still towards her. He picked up a long knife from the table and inspected it.

Bela closed her eyes and swallowed hard but her eyes wouldn't stay closed for long. The fear inside of her made her keep them opened. Watchful.

"You're never alone. Which surprises me because from what I know about you, you should prefer solitude" He touched the knife to his finger lightly and looked back at her. Dean would find her; he had to find her because this was his job. He was probably on this freak's trail right now. All she had to do was stall this guy a little bit.

"What makes you think that?" She asked him shakily

"Bela, come on" Dean smiled brightly "I'm your husband remember? I know these things." He chuckled and approached her slowly. "You grew up alone, you lived most of your life alone, you're used to doing everything all by yourself but now you're never alone. Not for a moment. Not for ten seconds to use the bathroom"

"Well I may have had those ten seconds if you didn't sneak up on me yeah?" She forced a smile

"It was the only chance I got so I had to take it right?" He twirled the knife around in his hands. Those hands that he stole from Dean. The hands that would use that knife to slice off her flesh very shortly unless she was rescued and fast. She took a deep breath and said "Uh, do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"Dean" He said staring directly into her eyes

"I'm sorry?" She frowned

"'Do you mind if I ask you a question Dean?'" He said pointedly "I want to hear you say the name"

"Why?" Bela asked him feeling panicky reluctance creeping over her

"Because sweetheart, If you live through this, which you might, given your associations, I want you to be reminded of our time together." Dean took a few steps closer "Every time you say that name, every time you see this face, every time these hands" He held his hands up "Touch you. I want you to remember this"

The knife in his hand caught the reflection of the dim light above them and glimmered back at her. Tears stung her eyes and rolled down her cheeks.

"Now what was your question?" His eye twitched threateningly

"Why? Why are you doing this?" She cried

"Because" He whispered softly into her ear "This is personal. I have to get him where it hurts. And that's in his heart"

"Help! Help me! Dean! Somebody! Please!" Bela screamed with all of her strength

Dean laughed and shook his head "Come on sweetheart, you're only going to make this harder on yourself. Nobody can hear you. It's just us okay? Now be a good girl and behave yourself, or things are going to get really messy and neither of us want that now do we?"

"Please don't. Please" She choked out and dropped her head down

"You know, I'm sure my cousin was thinking the same thing right before she was shot through the heart with those silver bullets" He chortled sarcastically and used the knife to lift her chin up so that they were eye level.

"Now what I want you to do is beg me for mercy, okay baby?" He said with a quick smirk "And don't forget to call me Dean"

Bela didn't know how much time had passed before she heard Dean's voice, his real voice, calling out her name. She could hardly see him at that point; one of her eyes was swollen shut. She heard Dean, the fake one, start to say something but he was silenced by four gunshots to the chest. Rissy or Sam had taken the shots, she wasn't sure about which of them had pulled the trigger, maybe both of them, and Dean, the real one, rushed over to cut her free from the chair.

"Oh Bela" She heard him sigh ruefully "Come here baby" He said lifting her into his arms.

"I got you baby, I got you." He said into her forehead, his voice was gruff and edgy, distorted by stress and adrenaline. She could hear his heart thrashing wildly against the side of her head.

"Sam! Get the door for me please?" His voice boomed too loudly into her ears. The sound made her cringe. Dean would never hurt her, not the real one, and this one was real.

She didn't remember falling asleep, she must have passed out, and when she woke up she was back at Mark's cabin in his bed. Her arms and legs felt like they were on fire. Bela sat up in the bed, ignoring the shooting pains in her face and neck with every slight she moved. Every inch of her body ached. Every single inch hurt. Dean had sliced so deeply into her arms, legs, and collarbone with his knife that she had truly believed that he meant to kill her. When Dean entered the bedroom and her stomach turned, she realized that what shifter Dean had done to her was much worse.

"Hey" Dean said gently lowering himself next to her on the bed and placed a food tray down next to him

"Hi" The moment she opened her mouth she regretted it. Her lip had been split in so many places that they felt like they would rip open at the slightest provocation

"Shh don't try to talk" He frowned and inspected some of the bandaging on her battered body

"You know, I almost lost my mind searching for you" He gave a pitiful humorless laugh "I was so angry at myself for letting you go alone. Ten seconds alone in the middle of the woods. These woods. I thought I lost you." He raised his head, obviously trying to fight back tears.

"I don't think it's too much to ask if next time, you take me with you?" He gave her a quick smile as a single drop rolled down his cheek.

Bela winced as she tried to return the gesture then decided a polite smile wasn't worth the pain.

"Son of a bitch took my face, took my wife, and I didn't even get to pull the trigger" He shook his head and rubbed at his eyes before picking up the tray and placing down on his lap. "I thought you'd be hungry so I got you some soup. Something that you wouldn't need to… I get to feed you so you probably like that" He flashed a quick smile and filled a spoon with soup.

"Just open up a little bit okay?" He held the spoon to her face; something about the way the metal caught the reflection of the light made her entire body retract.

"No!" She screamed sobbed into her hands, which she had raised protectively over her face.

"Wha- I'm not, Bela. I'm not going to hurt you" She could hear him pleading but all she could see was that knife slicing and cutting away at her; Dean cutting into her flesh while she begged for mercy. That wasn't Dean. This is Dean. Dean would never hurt her, why couldn't she stop crying?

"Look at me" He said easily prying her hands from her face "Do you feel this? Feel this?" He ran a gentle hand over hers "Feel this? That was a shifter. I'm a human. Human skin. Feel this?" He touched a small patch of skin that hadn't been bruised. "You're safe now okay? Don't cry" He wrapped his arms around her a bit too tightly and she gasped in pain. "Sorry" He frowned and released her.

"Dean? They're on the move, we have to go" Rissy said poking her head into the room

"Okay, just give me a minute" He said reaching out for Bela again. The sudden movement made her cringe.

"Dean, please. We need talk." Rissy urged softly. Dean retracted his hand from Bela's face as if he had touched something hot, then he stood without another word, and followed Rissy out of the room.

"She just needs time Dean" Rissy said, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder as she spoke. "It was a traumatic experience but she'll soon learn how to separate that memory from her memories with you." Rissy gave him a hopeful smile and added "Trust me, I'm a doctor"

"I should've gone with her" Dean ran a hand through his hair

"She wouldn't have let you Dean. There was nothing you can do. You can't carry this weight around, not with the kids out there. Sonia says that they're already on the move so we should go. If you want we can leave Bela here for a while and"

"No" Dean shot her a severe look

"Or not" Rissy nodded quickly "She's going to need some help moving around though because she's… you know"

"I'll take care of it"

"No Dean, you can't. Not right now anyway"

"She's my wife Rissy, that's my job!" He snapped

"Your job, Dean, is to give her what she needs" Rissy said calmly "And right now what she needs is a little patience and understanding. She'll be okay. I promise. In the meantime, let's go get our babies."


End file.
